Unscripted Love
by yure-chan
Summary: Going back into a relationship after a brief separation wasn't as easy as Kakashi and Iruka thought it would be. Despite all they had said and promised before, it doesn't seem like things are going to go the way they had imagined it to be. Not when doubts are involved. Will they work it out or end up giving up what they had fought so hard for? A KakaIru sequel to Second Chance.
1. Chapter 1: When Misunderstandings Abound

**A/N: I finally got down to writing a sequel after an almost 2 years of hiatus. My apologies to everyone to whom I had promised before that I would write one. Not that I haven't been writing, but I just didn't have as much time as I wished I had to write. And I don't want to post something when I don't have an idea on when I'm gonna complete them. But here's a story to mark the end of 2013, and a new beginning for 2014, where I hope to get new inspirations and time for my stories.**

* * *

Chapter 1: When Misunderstandings Abound

Iruka walked down the snow-covered street, his hands shoved in his pocket as he glanced at the newly constructed buildings. The battle with Pain was still stretched clear in his mind. He shuddered a little at the memory as he made his way back to the temporary shinobi living quarters, the pain in his head which had been plaguing him since morning refusing to go away. He pulled his coat tighter around him as the wind blew and chilled him to the bones.

It was a good thing when reparations in Konoha were getting off track after the village was almost devastated by the Akatsuki. But the recent rare bout of cold winter that had come to Konoha had delayed the progress. On days where the snow fell heavy and the wind blew strong, all reparation works had to be stopped. This was putting a strain in the completion schedule for restorations in many sections of the village, including the academy which Iruka had hoped to see the completion of the building, so that the students would have somewhere proper to study.

Though, he was glad that things were beginning to improve for Konoha. Shinobi were beginning to get dispatched out of the village for missions to sustain the still weak economy of the village. The Fire Country council and daimyo had given them a budget to fix up the village, everyone was being cooperative and working well together – more so than Iruka had ever seen before. And Tsunade had finally woken up from her coma.

Above all, Iruka was immensely proud of the fact that Naruto had been hailed a hero for ending the battle with Pain, and Kakashi had been praised and admired for his part in the battle.

Glancing off into the distance, Iruka could see some newly erected apartment buildings, which from what he heard, were meant for the jounin. He had heard Genma and Kakashi talking about it one night in the quarters when the buildings were still under constructions.

The chunin frowned a little at the thought of his silver-haired lover. After all the misunderstandings they had, they were finally back together. But then, the chunin felt that things were still shaky between them, perhaps even a little uncertain.

While jounin and chunin alike had been out and about, going on missions, patrolling the borders to prevent attacks, and doing information gathering to ensure that the village will not suffer a second attack during this fragile time, Kakashi was mostly in the village, discussing strategies and other important matters with the Hokage and the jounin commander, Shikaku. But even so, the chunin felt they were spending lesser time together, given that the aftermath of the attack had kept the jounin extremely busy.

Iruka frowned. Kakashi was still affectionate towards him, showing it in his embraces and kisses when he returned to the quarters, sometimes late at night. But the chunin could sense that there was something off. His lover had been behaving strange as of late.

Like the time when Genma was talking to him about the new apartment buildings, Kakashi had appeared out of nowhere, cutting the honey-haired man off and steering Iruka away.

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Iruka, fancy seeing you here so early in the morning." Genma grinned as he shoveled a pile of damaged concrete slabs and debris out of the way. _

"_Genma-san, good morning." Iruka smiled and bowed politely. "I'm on my way to see what we can salvage from the academy. What are you doing?"_

"_Supervising the reparation works." Genma yawned. "I've been up the entire night. This is endless."_

_Iruka's brow furrowed with worry. "Do you need any help, Genma-san? I could help out for a while and you can get some rest."_

"_Oh no. Don't worry about me." Genma chuckled. "If Kakashi finds out that I had shoved my responsibility to you and head back to sleep, he will probably drown me in that bucket of wet cement over there. He's protective of you." The jounin flashed an overly broad grin at the younger man._

_Iruka rubbed the scar across his nose in embarrassment. "You are exaggerating, Genma-san. We all have to do our part to restore the village. There's no way anyone will fault you."_

_Genma laughed. "Anyway, that aside. Have you heard that the construction of the jounin apartments have been completed? Finally, we won't have to sleep on stiff futon and crowded rooms." The tokujo leaned in nearer to the chunin. "So, have you heard from him yet?"_

_Iruka blinked confusedly. "Who?"_

_Genma rolled his eyes. "Kakashi, who else? So are you gonna mo – "_

_A gloved hand clamped over Genma's mouth and pulled him backwards. A second later, Kakashi's masked face appeared from behind him._

"_Why Genma? I thought Tsunade-sama had orders for you to supervise the reparation works?"_

_The honey-haired man pried off his friend's hand and glared at him. "I am. I just stopped for a bit to talk to Iruka. What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting with Hokage-sama and Shikaku-san?"_

"_It's done." Kakashi walked up to his lover and slipped a hand around his waist. "Heading back now."_

_Genma snorted and turned back to Iruka. "So, about the apartment – "_

"_Genma, I think someone is calling for you over there." Kakashi cut in again, with a one-eyed smile._

_The senbon specialist turned his head and looked around in annoyance. "Who?"_

_While his friend was distracted, Kakashi turned to the man in his arms. "Let's go, Iruka."_

_The chunin gaped as his lover manhandled him and guided him down the path, away from the honey-haired man, not even giving him an opportunity to bid goodbye._

_End of flashback_

* * *

Iruka sighed as he felt a headache coming up. He stopped at the entrance of the quarters and treaded carefully up the stairs to the third floor, entering the jounins' quarter and lying down on his futon for a rest.

He had asked Kakashi about what Genma had been trying to say. But the jounin just shrugged it off or gave noncommittal answers. And even when Iruka had probed about the jounins' apartment buildings, Kakashi had simply told him that nothing had been confirmed and then proceeded to shut him up with a kiss.

He turned to the side where Kakashi's futon lay and smoothed it out with his hand. It was still early in the evening and he doubted the older man would return anytime soon. He frowned slightly as another memory, two days after he met Genma, came unbidden into his mind.

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Iruka-sensei!"_

_The chunin smiled at the exuberant voice, knowing who it was before he even turned around. He chuckled lightly when he turned and saw the blond running up to him excitedly, with Sakura following behind with a laugh._

"_Iruka-sensei! I missed you!"_

_The chunin was almost thrown off balance when Naruto threw himself on him with a bone-crushing hug._

"_We just saw each other two days ago." Iruka laughed and ruffled the messy blond spikes when the teen finally released him from the grip._

"_Yeah." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "But, after what happened, I'm just glad to see everyone precious to me still alive and well."_

_Iruka's eyes softened in understanding. Naruto never ceased to amaze him with his big-heartedness and compassion. Something that was almost unheard off in the shinobi world. _

"_Iruka-sensei, good day to you." Sakura smiled as she finally caught up with her team mate._

"_Good day to you, Sakura." Iruka turned his attention to the young lady. "You look tired."_

"_Sakura-chan is awesome!" Naruto cut in with a big grin. "She's been healing people after people without rest. Tsunade baa-chan just recovered. Shizune nee-san said that she can't use her chakra to heal people yet, so Sakura-chan is taking it on all by herself."_

_Iruka frowned. "There are still more casualties?"_

"_Nothing serious." Sakura assured her formed teacher. "Most of them are the ones still recovering from the attacks. Every once in a while, we get a civilian coming in with injuries sustained from the reparation works."_

"_That's good to hear." Iruka broke into a smile. "Well, you had better take care of yourself too. It's no fun if you suffer from chakra depletion."_

"_I would assume so." Sakura said with a wink. "And I think you may have had first-hand experience of witnessing it from an elite jounin who always pushes himself too hard for his team and comes home with an extreme case of chakra depletion on more than one occasion."_

_Iruka eyes widened and he blushed at the kunoichi's statement,__ realising__ that she knew. His blush deepened when he glanced at Naruto and the teen seemed to understand what his team mate was saying and was grinning broadly at his__ favourite__ teacher, a mischievous look in his blue eyes._

"_Ho… How did you two…"_

"_We heard it straight from the horse's mouth." Sakura laughed. "We didn't know what got them started on that conversation. But he told Tsunade-sama right out that you two were together, even though he knew we were both in the room."_

_Iruka was stunned for a minute before it dawned on him that the jounin was being serious when he said he will not hide their relationship anymore. He couldn't stop the smile that was forming on his face._

"_I heard that it had been going on for a while. I'm still unhappy that you didn't tell me earlier about you and Kakashi-sensei." Naruto pouted and folded his arms, with feigned anger. _

"_Ah, Naruto." Iruka scratched the side of his head, remembering why he couldn't say anything during the time they had been together before the attack. "It was… We were…"_

_The blond seemed to__ realise__ his former teacher's discomfort. He grinned and leaned in to look into the chunin's eyes. "You are hiding something from me. But I will pursue this matter another day." He tapped his fingers on his chin as he stared into the distance. "Speaking of Kakashi-sensei, didn't baa-chan told him something the other day? About some apartment thing."_

"_Oh yes." Sakura's eyes sparkled with a cheeriness in them. "She said the apartment building is almost ready and she had set aside a unit for him as per his request." The kunoichi shot a knowing glance at her former sensei. "So, Iruka-sensei, has he said anything yet?"_

_Iruka blinked, befuddled. "What?"_

"_You know," Naruto perked up in excitement. "Like asking if you would like to mo –"_

_A gloved hand clamped itself over the blonde's mouth, very much like what happened to Genma a couple of days back. Kakashi popped his head between his two protégés and gave a one eyed smile to his lover._

"_Tsunade-sama is looking for the two of you. So run along now."_

"_For us?" Sakura pointed to herself, then her team mate as she looked at her jounin team leader. "Without you?"_

"_Yes." Kakashi straightened his posture. "Something about the casualty report."_

_Sakura paused for a bit before it hit her. "Oh! I forgot about that!" She immediately turned on her heels. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei. See you around, Iruka-sensei!"_

_Iruka watched as the pink-haired teen ran down the street. Naruto turned to look at the jounin._

"_I have nothing to do with the casualty report. So why is she looking for me?"_

"_You need to protect Sakura, don't you? What if some enemy__ nin__ attacked her on her way there?"_

_Kakashi had barely completed his sentence when the blond turned and ran down the street to catch up with his friend. _

"_Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei! Leave Sakura-chan to me! Bye Iruka-sensei!"_

_Iruka frowned at the obvious diversion. "Kakashi, what –"_

"_Let's go get lunch." The jounin cut his lover's protestations off, as he pushed the younger man gently to get him moving. "I'm hungry."_

_End of flashback_

* * *

Iruka awoke with a start. He rubbed his head, as he sat up in the futon, feeling the dull throbbing pain in his head. He didn't even realised he had fallen asleep. He stretched a little as he eyed the only clock in the jounin quarters. It was a little past seven in the evening.

The door opening had him turning his head and the action brought on another wave of pain and dizziness. He sighed as he closed his eyes and tried to keep the pain at bay.

"Are you all right?" A familiar voice rang beside him. Iruka opened his eyes and smiled at the person beside him who was eyeing him with concern.

"I'm fine. Just a little headache." Iruka caressed the face in front of him and pressed a gentle kiss on the masked lips. "Welcome back."

"Should I get Sakura or Shizune to take a look at you?" Kakashi's brows furrowed in worry, as he removed a glove and placed his palm against the chunin's forehead.

"I'm really all right. They should conserve their energy for the more needy ones." Iruka chuckled lightly. "It's just a headache. It will go away after a while."

Just as soon as he had finished speaking, a sneeze escaped the younger man, and then another. He sniffled and grinned sheepishly at the jounin who was looking at him with a raised brow. "And maybe a slight cold. But I'm really all right."

Kakashi sighed as he handed his lover a bottle of water. Then he dug into his weapons' pouch. "I think I may have some medicines here."

The jounin smiled when he found what he wanted and he held them up to the younger man. Iruka stared at the open palm in front of him and took the pills gratefully.

"Thank you."

"Wait." Kakashi stopped the younger man before he could swallow the pills. "You shouldn't take these on an empty stomach. Let me go get something for you to eat."

"Do I have to?" Iruka frowned slightly. The idea of getting out of bed wasn't too appealing at the moment with his throbbing head. He just wanted to take the medicines and sleep it off.

But the jounin would have none of it. He swept the loose strands of hair from his lover's face, as he kept his gaze firm.

"You know you have to, Iruka." The jounin pressed a masked kiss on the tanned forehead. "Wait a while. I will be right back."

Iruka grabbed the older man's arm before he could leave, as he tried to stand on his feet. Kakashi frowned as he steadied the chunin by his arm and watched him silently.

"I'm coming with you." Iruka smiled as he finally stood from the futon. "A little fresh air would perhaps relieve the headache."

Kakashi knew he would not be able to dissuade the younger man, so he just let out a sigh before giving the chunin a smile and a nod. Keeping his grasp firm on Iruka, he headed out of the shelters and towards the nearby tea house.

* * *

Iruka couldn't understand why their friends had turned quiet the moment he and Kakashi stepped into the tea house that had recently begun operations recently near to where the temporary living quarters were located. The place was quiet, with only a few tables occupied, since most shinobi had opted for the other newly open food joints around the area. But the few that occupied the tea house were familiar faces to Iruka.

Izumo and Kotetsu were eyeing them intently as they sat at one of the tables with Iwashi and a couple of other chunin. He could have sworn he saw Izumo frowned darkly when his eyes had laid on the silver-haired jounin. Iruka was a little puzzled at what brought on his friend's annoyance. He had after all, been the first one to give his blessings when Iruka had decided to go back into a relationship with the jounin.

On the other table, Genma sat with Raidou, Anko and Aoba. The purple-haired kunoichi was busy digging into her food and Aoba was reading through the menu, not bothering with what was going on. But Genma and Raidou were looking at the two from the moment they had stepped into the tea house, with strange looks on their faces.

If Kakashi had sensed the glares and stares thrown their way, he certainly didn't seem too bothered. He and Iruka sat down at one of the tables in the corner while the tea house attendant brought them the menus.

Genma chose to walk over to them while the two were browsing through the options before them. He patted Kakashi gently on the shoulder and signalled for the man to follow him.

Kakashi raised a brow at the serious look on his friend's face and turned to Iruka. "Go ahead and order something. I will be back in a while."

Iruka watched curiously as the two jounin walked to a table at the far corner of the tea house and began speaking in low voices. A sudden shadow casted over the table and he glanced up in surprise, into the eyes of his friend.

Izumo took the seat that Kakashi had vacated and watched Iruka carefully.

* * *

"I heard you aren't planning to move to the jounins' new apartment blocks." Genma spoke casually as he fiddled with his senbon.

Kakashi shrugged and gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Did Iruka refuse to?" The honey-haired man eyed his friend carefully. "I mean I can understand if he feels uncomfortable having jounin for neighbours and doesn't want to…"

"No, I haven't told him anything." Kakashi leaned back in his seat and folded his arms. "I have other plans."

"I hope your plans include him." Genma leaned back in his seat too as he tried to appear relaxed.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow at his friend's words and apparent uneasiness, despite his attempt. "What do you mean?"

There was a moment of silence as the other jounin scratched his head and fiddled with his senbon.

"Well?" The silver-haired jounin raised a brow.

"There are..." Genma finally spoke, giving a little shrug. "…rumours circulating around."

"Oh?" Kakashi snorted. "About?"

"You and Iruka." The tokujo fidgeted under the silver-haired jounin's intense gaze.

Kakashi let out a deep sigh. "I don't know what's circulating around and I am not interested in finding out. If anyone has any opinions about me and Iruka being together, then get them to tell it to my face. I will have them know I'm not giving up Iruka, no matter what anyone says."

Genma grimaced. "Cool it, Kakashi. No one's asking you to give him up. I'm glad that things are going well between you and Iruka." The tokujo tugged at his bandana and he let out a sigh of his own as he continued in a more subdued voice. "I was just worried when I started hearing things going around. It hadn't been exactly easy for you two to clear things up. But well, rumours are just rumours. It will die down soon. Sorry I brought it up."

"No, thank you for being there for us." Kakashi rubbed his temples after a long pause of silence, deciding to be honest for once. "I know it hadn't exactly been easy. That is why, I'm not going to listen to any rumours and let it cause a drift between Iruka and myself."

"Don't worry." Genma grinned, returning to his cheery self to ease the worries on his friend's mind. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine. So what are your plans regarding the apartment?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I don't have the finer details of things yet."

"Well, my only advice is, tell him your plans soon. The sooner, the better." Genma gave a brief nod in the direction of Iruka. Kakashi casted a glance over his shoulder and watched as his lover interacted with Izumo, who was by now, joined by Kotetsu and another chunin.

"I know." Kakashi scraped the chair back and stood up. "I should head over now. Iruka isn't feeling too well so I would like to go back soon and let him have some rest."

Genma nodded as the copy nin walked away. His brows furrowed with worry. The rumours that he had been hearing, albeit various versions, boils down to just one conclusion. He wasn't worried about Kakashi – the man would just brush off the rumours. But for Iruka, he wondered if the chunin would be affected by it, considering how his relationship with Kakashi had gone previously.

But the bond between Iruka and Kakashi seemed strong. Surely, such petty rumours would not cause any cracks in their still fragile relationship.

Right?

* * *

Izumo watched as Kakashi and Genma talked at the other table. Then he turned back to his friend who was watching him curiously.

"Izumo, are you all right?" Iruka frowned with concern in his eyes.

"I should be the one asking that question." Izumo sighed.

The frown deepened. "Did something happen?"

Izumo rubbed his temples, as he tried to figure out how to bring across what he wanted to say, in the gentlest possible way to bring about minimal distress to the other man.

"Izumo?"

The voice brought the long-haired chunin back to face his friend. Finally, he let out another deep sigh.

"How have things been going on between you and Kakashi-san, Iruka?" The chunin asked in a deceptively calm voice.

"Things are going well." Iruka answered carefully. "We have been getting along fine."

"Really?" The other chunin frowned as he tugged at his bandanna. "Iruka, if there is anything, you have to tell me. I won't let you stay on in an unhappy relationship."

"What are you talking about, Izumo?"

Izumo rubbed his face tiredly, as frustration took reign of his emotions. He folded his arms on the table and watched Iruka intently.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush, Iruka. Not when your happiness is at stake."

The scarred chunin nodded slowly, as he felt a mild fear gripped him at his friend's words.

"Iruka, have you heard of anything from anyone of late? About you or Kakashi-san?" Izumo's lips were pressed together into a straight line as he tried to rein in his anger.

"No. What is this about?" Iruka could feel the throbbing in his head worsening with every passing moment. Perhaps he should have defied Kakashi after all and took the pills.

"Then have you heard anything from Kakashi-san? About getting an apartment together when the village has been rebuilt, or anything along that line?"

"It's a little too early to talk about that, isn't it? Right now, all reparation works have been halted. No one knows when the reconstruction is going to start again, much less the completion." Iruka frowned, trying to figure out where this whole conversation was going.

"Iruka!" Izumo let out a deep sigh. "Answer my question. Did he or did he not?"

Iruka was surprised at the forcefulness of the question. He and Kakashi were just beginning to adapt to each other after the brief moment of separation they had. It was still probably a little too early to be talking about living together. Slowly, he shook his head.

"No. No, he hadn't. He didn't say anything at all. We hardly even spend time together, with all the chaos going on and him being summoned by Hokage-sama all the time. I don't think he even has the time to think about what you had just mentioned. Besides, I really do think it's still a little too early to be talking about this. Even I have not thought about it."

Izumo had an unreadable look on his face as he stared at his friend. Finally, he looked away resigned.

"It certainly doesn't seem like it's too early for him to think about living with someone." The chunin spoke so softly, that Iruka almost did not hear him. "I was hoping and praying that you would tell me he had already talked to you about it; that you would be the one he is going to live with."

"Izumo, what –"

"I can't believe that you actually didn't hear a word of it. Especially since everyone is talking about it." Izumo cut his friend off, as he pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I can't believe he's actually doing this to you again. Not after he had promised us he would not."

"Izumo?"

"There are rumours going around. I didn't want to believe it at first, but Iwashi confirmed it!" Izumo said tiredly. "Kakashi-san had been assigned an apartment more than a week ago. And I heard he's planning to move."

Iruka stared at his friend blankly, as he digested this new piece of information, a frown slowly forming n his face. Kakashi is going to move in to a new apartment? Why hadn't the older man told him anything? Surely one week had been more than enough time for him to inform Iruka about it. And it wasn't as if they hadn't seen each other in the entire week.

"I heard he's moving in with someone." Izumo's voice cut into his thoughts and he looked at his friend as he listened attentively. But the next sentence that left the long-haired chunin's mouth left him in a state of cold fear.

"Everyone is saying that Kakashi-san is moving in with a woman."

Iruka felt a cold hand closing over his heart as his eyes widened, as he tried to process what had just been said. In fact, he had difficulty trying to understand it. Kakashi? His lover? Moving in with a woman? That can't be right. He must have heard it wrong. Or Izumo must have gotten his information from a wrong source.

He realised he had spoken out loud when Izumo clasped a hand over his and look at him worriedly.

"I hope I'm wrong too." Izumo said in a hushed voice. "I've seen how you reacted that one time when he died and how overjoyed you were when he was revived. I can see how much you love him and I want you to be happy with him."

Iruka could hardly answer, as he fumbled with his thoughts, trying to find a logical explanation to it. Kakashi wouldn't do this to him. He promised he wouldn't. So why is he hearing something that sounds suspiciously like the jounin was cheating on him?

Then the memories of his meeting with Genma, Naruto and Sakura flashed into his mind. Kakashi had interrupted both conversations at a point when the topic of the apartment was being brought up. Did Kakashi not want him to know? Was the older man truly hiding something from him? Was the jounin planning on leaving him again?

The last thought had him clenching his fists in fear. Izumo was startled by the sudden movement under his hand and eyed his friend carefully, suddenly feeling a wave of guilt hitting him and he wondered if he should not have told Iruka about it. But then again, he didn't want his friend to be the last one to find out and suffer from another heartbreak. Izumo knew, if that happened, Iruka would not recover from it.

Kotetsu and Iwashi joined them at the table and gave Izumo a knowing look. The long-haired chunin shook his head in resignation and gently shook Iruka's hands, giving it a firm squeeze, snapping the other chunin out from his reverie. He gave a small smile that he hope was reassuring.

"Sorry we overheard your conversation." Kotetsu interrupted before Izumo could say a word. "But we couldn't help it."

Iwashi nodded from beside Izumo. "I know he's moving in with a woman, because I saw them coming out of the apartment building together. And I had seen them together a number of times around the village. I really thought you should know about this."

Iruka felt his blood running cold, as he closed his eyes and absorbed what was being told to him. He fought to keep his emotions under control. When did this begin? Didn't the jounin say that he loved him and wanted to be with him? Did Kakashi lie to him about having meetings with the Hokage when in fact, he was having a rendezvous with some woman?

Tears threatened and the pain that surged through him was beginning to engulf him.

Izumo growled at Iwashi beside him. He elbowed the man in the ribs to shut him up, when he realised that the academy teacher was at the brink of a breakdown. He quickly placed a comforting hand on top of Iruka's, trying to reassure him. Of what, he doesn't know.

"I'm sorry, Iruka. We don't mean to make you worry. We could be wrong for all you know and this could be just one big misunderstanding. Why don't you talk to him and ask him outright?" Izumo tried to cheer his friend up, truly regretting how the revelations had put the academy teacher in so much distress.

Kotetsu turned to face the academy teacher with a solemn look and a sigh. "You are a good friend, Iruka. I would hate to see you getting hurt. Rumours like these won't be spreading like wildfire if there weren't some truths to them. But still, Izumo's right. You should extract the truth from him instead of listening to what everyone else is saying. This is after all, your own happiness."

"But, what if…" Iruka finally spoke after a moment of silence before trailing off. He couldn't even focus enough to get a sentence out as the thought of Kakashi lying to him invaded his mind and chased away all forms of reasons.

"If…" Izumo swallowed hard. "If it is as the rumours say, and he is so readily giving you up, you still have us." The chunin forced a smile. "We will whack him up hard for you. Even if we aren't as well-versed in genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu as he is, we are still better in pulling pranks. We will colour him red, green, yellow, blue and purple, douse him with honey and flour and pull every single prank until he comes begging for your forgiveness."

Kotetsu nodded as he laid a comforting hand on Iruka's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Iruka gave a small, forced smile at his friends' concerns, despite the emotional turbulence in him.

Izumo glanced up and saw the jounin walking back to the table. Giving Iruka another firm squeeze on the hand, he stood up, ready to walk back to his table.

"Talk to him, Iruka. You've got nothing to lose." Izumo smiled.

Iruka could only nod dumbly as his friends returned to their seats and a moment later, Kakashi took his seat in front of him.


	2. Chapter 2: When Words Are Not Spoken

**A/N: And here's the next chapter. Sorry it took a while to get this up. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

* * *

Chapter 2: When Words Are Not Spoken

Kakashi couldn't understand the stiffness in his lover's posture, as he walked at the back, eyeing the man in front of him. Neither could he understand why Iruka had suddenly gone quiet for the whole night. They had been so amiable earlier that evening, laughing and talking as they had made their way to the tea house. But the chunin's mood had suddenly taken a turn. The few times he caught the younger man's eyes, he could almost see the flash of pain in them. But Iruka always looked away before he could confirm it.

Even now, as they headed back to the shelters, Iruka had not said a single word to him.

Kakashi could finally stand it no longer. The pained look on his lover's face was enough to wear him out. He reached out a hand and held Iruka's arm firmly but gently, forcing the chunin to halt in his steps.

"Is there something wrong, Iruka?" Kakashi frowned. "Is your headache getting worse?"

The chunin eyed him for a long while, his mouth opening several times, as if he wanted to speak. After an agonisingly long moment, Iruka clamped his mouth shut and shook his head.

"No. No, it's nothing. I'm all right."

"Then why are you behaving so strangely? You have been quiet ever since we went to the tea house and your friends spoke with you." A flash of anger appeared in the single grey eye. "Did they say something to upset you?"

Iruka tensed for a moment and quickly shook his head. But the jounin was unconvinced. He had felt that slight moment of tension and hesitation from the younger man. His grip on the Iruka's arm tightened.

"Kakashi, let go." Iruka winced, feeling the grip around his arm growing tighter with every passing second. "It hurts."

Release was instantaneous when the jounin realised that he was hurting his lover. His single eye turned apologetic as he ran a hand through his silver strands in frustration.

"I'm sorry." The jounin sighed and took a step back. "Iruka, I don't like beating around the bush. If there is something that upsets you, whether it's me or someone else, I hope you can be forthright about it. It's not going to bring us anywhere if I have to keep second guessing what you are thinking about."

"Why don't you tell me then what you have been hiding from me?" Iruka whispered in a hoarse voice.

The jounin was caught off guard by the hurt he detected in the voice even as he frowned at the statement. "What have I been hiding from you?" Kakashi spoke in a low voice, trying to keep his cool. "Granted, I can't tell you classified information, I've told you every other thing. When did I ever fail to answer you when you ask me something?"

"Really, Kakashi? Really?" Iruka finally looked the jounin in the eyes. "Nothing else? You have nothing else to tell me? Something that perhaps concern me?"

"What is it really, Iruka? I'm not in the mood for guessing games." Kakashi was losing his patience.

He had an extremely long morning in a meeting with Tsunade, Shikaku and the council, where it had been revealed that the village might be in danger of suffering another attack, if the intel gathered were anything to go by. Then he had spent the entire afternoon working on strategies with Shikaku to protect the village, dealing with new information about renegade ninjas in the vicinity and having to handle some of the scheming council elders, who seemed fixated on the idea that starting a war would be the only way to fortify Konoha's status in the ninja world and announce to everyone that Konoha is still as strong as before, despite the recent invasion.

It had taken him, Shikaku, and a few other influential clan heads to stop the council from actually voting on it.

And just when the situation couldn't get any more complicated, they had received news that the remaining members of the Akatsuki are still hunting down Naruto and it seemed as if they had some devious plans in the making.

Between worrying about the safety of the village and his protégé, Kakashi had returned to the shelter, only to have another worry weighing on him when he found Iruka sick. And right now, just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, Iruka was seemingly throwing some kind of tantrum, which for the life of him couldn't figure out why.

It could have been the splitting headache which the chunin was suffering from which caused his tension, or perhaps he had a bad day with his academy students. It could even have been something Izumo or the other chunin said. But Kakashi wasn't in the right mood to guess what it was exactly.

The jounin felt his own headache brewing. Iruka was staring at him, not saying a word, as the hurt became more prominent on the tanned face.

That hurt look sent a pang of guilt hitting Kakashi squarely on the chest. While he didn't know what the reason for Iruka's distress was, he wondered if it was something he did unknowingly that had caused his lover so much pain, considering the chunin hadn't given him this look in a long while. The last time he did was when Kakashi refused to publicly acknowledge his relationship with the younger man.

The jounin closed his eyes briefly, chasing those thoughts out of his mind. Those were events of the past and he didn't want to think about it and be reminded by how deeply he had hurt Iruka before. What he needed to do now was to pacify the academy teacher, find out just what it was that had gotten him so upset and try to salvage it while he can.

Because Kakashi knew deep down, he didn't want to lose Iruka a second time over something that could just have been petty reasons.

"Look, Iruka." The silver-haired man opened his eye and sighed. "I don't know what happened. But in any way if it is my fault that you are so upset, I apologise."

Iruka turned away, unshed tears brimming in the corner of his eyes. "Apologies aren't going to cut it. Not when the situation is like this."

"Stop this guessing game, Iruka! What situation are you talking about?" Kakashi was getting frustrated. "When we got back together, didn't we promise that we would be honest? That we will not hide it if there is anything that we are unhappy about? You were the one who said we needed to be more open about our thoughts with each other, so why are you doing this now?"

"Then what about you?" Iruka turned to the jounin, the tears no longer kept in check. "After what you said and promised, I can't believe that in the end, you never truly wanted to be with me!" The chunin tugged at his ponytail as he turned away once more. "Perhaps Inaho-san had been right. This relationship wasn't going to last. The first time we parted should have told us that much."

Kakashi could hardly believe what he was hearing. Were those just angry words that the chunin was saying or was Iruka having doubts and regretting his initial decision to give their relationship a second chance? He grasped the shorter man's shoulders and turned him around, looking into the expressive brown eyes. The jounin himself had went stiff with an unfamiliar emotion surging through him.

"What is this about, Iruka?" Kakashi's voice was deadly serious, teetering on the edge of anger. "What do you mean by I never wanted to be with you? Why do you think I wanted you to stay in the jounins' quarters with me? Why do you think I even bothered admitting to anyone who asked about us?"

Iruka was stunned. Despite the fact that the jounin was looking as calm as he usually does on the surface, Iruka could still sense the underlying rage in the voice, the tight grip of the gloved hands on his shoulders and the unusually stiff posture of the copy nin, which all pointed to the fact that the jounin was getting angry. He stood at the spot, unable to work his brain around to move himself or even utter a word, as he stared into the single grey eye, hazed over with rarely seen emotions.

"And why are you bringing her up now?" The jounin continue in a more subdued voice as the anger dissipated as quickly as it came. "Are you regretting it? Turning her down the last time and choosing to stay with me?"

"I'm not regretting it." Iruka whispered after a long silence, as he turned his head away, not wanting to see the hurt in his lover's eye. "Or rather, I didn't regret it until now. Not for the fact that I turned her down and stayed with you – she was only a comrade after all. But because I was foolish enough to believe you so readily."

There was another tensed moment of silence, as both men stood on the street, not saying a word. Finally, after a long agonising moment, Iruka felt the hands on his shoulders loosening its grip and slipping off. Iruka finally turned his head slightly to regard the older man.

But Kakashi had looked away. His hands were in his pockets as his posture remained stiff. His single eye closed, as though he was trying to rein in his emotions.

Kakashi finally opened his eye, but kept his gaze away from the chunin. He let out a bitter smile under his mask. "My bad. I didn't realise how difficult I was making things for you when I asked you to stay with me." The jounin finally spoke throatily. "But even now, I still do not understand what it is I've done to breach that trust you had in me, that is, if it had been there in the first place."

"I'm the one who doesn't understand!" The tears finally broke free and rolled from the hurting brown orbs trying to decipher the jounin's masked face. "Why is it that you can't be honest with me for once? I would rather you break me now than continue to lead me deeper into a lie! Why can't you just be honest and tell me you have another woman on the side?"

Kakashi was stunned into silence for the umpteenth time that night, as he tried to wrap his genius mind around what he had just heard. How in heavens did Iruka come up with such a ridiculous idea? Who had been the one to plant that thought in the chunin's head in the first place?

For once, the jounin was at a loss for words. He pinched the bridge of his nose as his brows knitted together in frustration. Finally, he raked his fingers through his hair and sighed deeply.

"Iruka, I don't know what gave you the idea that I have another woman on the side." Kakashi spoke quietly. "But to think that your trust in me is so little that you believed I would actually do that…" The jounin took in a deep breath. "… I truly do not know what to say. It had never occurred to me that I would be this untrustworthy and unfaithful in your eyes."

"Why are you still denying it? The news had been going around! Someone saw you with another woman coming out of an apartment building together! They saw you two together, going around the village, several times I might add! Rumour has it, that you two are going to move in together!" The chunin could barely contain his emotions as he took it out on the older man.

"I wanted to believe in you. But with the suspicious way you had been behaving for the last two weeks, I really can't…" Iruka paused and gulped heavily, as he lowered his head and stared at his sandals. "… I don't know what to think or believe in anymore."

Kakashi had gone deathly silent after his little outburst. When Iruka finally dared to raise his head and look at the older man in the eyes, he cringed inwardly.

The jounin had an impassive look on his face, his posture in a lazy slouch with an almost impenetrable defensive air and his hands were shoved into his pockets. His visible eye had a cold, hard look in it and Iruka could almost feel the barrier that had been instantaneously built up around the older man.

Kakashi had deliberately put a distance between them.

"Rumours, huh? So that is what it is." The jounin spoke in such a detached voice that Iruka found himself flinching. "Really, I didn't think that in your opinion, my words would weigh far less than ridiculous rumours going around and that I would appear to be less trustworthy than those rumours. I honestly thought you would have more faith in me. Guess I was wrong."

Iruka couldn't bring himself to say anything, not when the jounin was this emotionless, aloof man before him that he didn't know at all.

And as for Kakashi, he didn't want to hang around any longer. He knew he had to leave before his hurt showed through his mask of detachment. All along, he had assumed things had been well between the two of them. He had gone against his nature and unreservedly opened up to Iruka more than he had ever done so to any other person, as he tried to make up for the hurt he had inflicted on the younger man. He had thought Iruka felt the same and had reciprocated his feelings.

That is why, never in his mind would he have thought that he would be hearing all these things tonight – that Iruka had his doubts and reservations about him and that the chunin had never trusted him.

"I think it's pretty clear to me now where we stand." Kakashi continued, as he fought internally to keep his voice from breaking. "Trust is the most fundamental thing in any relationship. If it isn't there, then there is no point in continuing at all. Since that's the case, perhaps we should stop now."

Iruka's eyes widened in shock at the jounin's words. He tried to make his mouth form words, but all coherent thoughts had fled his mind.

"And I guess this is it." Kakashi turned away. "Good night, Iruka_-sensei_. I should take my leave now."

The coldly-voiced honorific felt like the blade of a kunai as it twisted and pierced right into Iruka's heart. It hurts so much more than the first time, when Kakashi had addressed him in the same way after they ended their relationship.

Kakashi refused to hang around more than necessary. He needed to find somewhere that he can be alone and heal. Shifting through the seals, he disappeared in a puff of smoke without so much as a backwards glance, leaving Iruka standing alone in the middle of the street. A moment later, the tears cascaded down the tanned cheeks as the chunin put his arms around himself, suddenly feeling an unbearable cold surging through him.

* * *

Genma was sitting by the front entrance of the quarters when he saw a lone figure trudging despondently up the path. His eyes widened in surprise when he realised who it was and he was caught even more off guard when he saw the distress that was written on that person's face. Frowning in concern, he got to his feet and walked cautiously over.

"Hey, um… Iruka?" The jounin asked uncertainly, when he stopped in front of the younger man. He scratched his head awkwardly when the chunin looked at him with a dazed look in his eyes.

"Good evening, Genma-san." Iruka forced a smile as he rasped out a greeting from his coarse throat, a combination from both his earlier breakdown and his worsening sickness.

"You sound bad." Genma peered into the flushed face of the academy teacher. "Kakashi said you weren't feeling too well. Are you all right?"

Iruka turned his head away at the mention of the older man's name. He gave a brief nod, not trusting his voice enough to speak up.

"Where's Kakashi?" Genma craned his neck, trying to see if the other jounin was anywhere nearby. "Didn't the two of you left the tea house together?"

Iruka shrugged, still not saying a word, as he struggled to keep his emotions under control. But the flitting emotions that crossed the chunin's face did not go unnoticed, as the observant jounin studied him carefully.

"Is everything all right, Iruka?"

The academy teacher finally raised his head and looked at the specialist. Genma was stunned to see the slightly red-rimmed eyes which he had not noticed earlier, and the moisture that was slowly gathering in the corner of the brown eyes.

"I'm all right, Genma-san. Thank you for your concern." Iruka croaked as he ducked his head to avoid Genma's intense gaze. The movement brought on a wave of dizziness that had him stumbling and almost tripping over, if not for a hand that reached out and held on to him firmly.

The jounin frowned as he grabbed Iruka's arm to prevent a fall. "You don't look too well. How about getting a medic nin to take a look at you?"

"The medic nin have got their hands full already with all the casualties. I'm really all right. I will be fine after some rest." Iruka gave a weak smile as the jounin slowly released him. "If there's nothing else, Genma-san, I will be heading in first."

Genma gave an uncertain nod as the chunin slowly retreated towards the shelter. He felt a sense of uneasiness at the thought of why Iruka had returned without Kakashi.

But he barely had time to dwell further when he caught sight of the first sign of Iruka's unsteady footstep. Then a split second later, the chunin was stumbling and falling over.

Genma knew he had to move to catch Iruka before the chunin hit the ground. But before he could react, a shadow flitted past him and beat him to the younger man. Genma stood gaping as he watched a form rematerialised in front of Iruka, right in time for the chunin to fall into the waiting arms.

"Kakashi?"

The silver-haired jounin held the man in his arms closer, as he rested a palm against the tanned forehead. The silver brows knitted together in worry.

'_Damn! He's burning up!'_

Genma could hear his friend cursing under his breath as the copy nin glanced at him, even as he lifted Iruka up.

"Genma, I'm bringing him up to the room. Head to the chunins' quarters and get Sakura. Inform her of the situation.

Genma nodded as he watched Kakashi carry the limp body up the stairs. Then he sprinted up the other flight of stairs leading to the chunins' quarters to fulfil his task.

* * *

Five pairs of eyes watched apprehensively as Sakura sat beside Iruka, working diligently to heal the academy teacher. Every once in a while, Kakashi would cast a glance over, as he sat by the window sill. Finally, the pink-haired kunoichi prepared a syringe and injected a vaccine into the tanned arm. She stood from her position and nodded at the five men in the room, before turning towards the window sill to regard her mentor silently.

Genma had burst into the chunins' quarters and tried to drag her out of the room before she could even comprehend what had happened. Then while ushering her out of the room, he had tried to explain and the only thing she could gather was that Iruka had collapsed.

She had been shocked then, and was even more surprised when Naruto, Izumo and Kotetsu had pounced on the two of them, demanding to know what happened to Iruka. They had all sprinted towards the jounins' quarters, only to see that Kakashi had stripped the vest and forehead protector off the unconscious chunin and was trying his best to keep the younger man's temperature under control with his chakra. Sakura couldn't remember a time when she had seen her team leader in such a state of anxiety. The jounin had only stepped back when Sakura knelt down beside him and started healing her former teacher.

"He will be fine." Sakura began to pack her things back into her equipment's bag. "The vaccine will do its work. His fever should subside soon. But before the fever wears off, he will probably still be in a lot of discomfort." The pink-haired chunin shifted her gaze to her former teacher, lying asleep in the futon. "And after that, it will take a while for him to get back to full health."

Izumo let out a sigh of relief and Kotetsu felt the tension finally leaving him. Naruto walked over to his teacher's side and sat down beside the futon, watching the sleeping man. Raidou let out a sigh as he sat down heavily in his futon while Genma tugged his bandana off his head and rubbed his temples. Sakura turned her head and she could see the silver-haired jounin visibly relax, even as he remained in his position by the window.

"How reckless." Sakura shook her head as her gaze returned to the academy teacher. "He should have seek medical help earlier. To hold back and allow the fever to get this bad isn't exactly a wise move, especially in this weather."

"But it was a good thing you got him medical attention at once, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura walked towards the window and held out a bag. "Any later and he might have to be admitted into the emergency ward in the hospital."

Kakashi took the bag and eyed his subordinate questioningly.

"When his fever subsides, he will need to take these medicines to help him recuperate. I don't have much with me now. But this amount should make do for a couple of days. I will send in a request to the hospital tomorrow for the remaining required quantity and deliver it when it's ready for collection."

The jounin nodded and stuffed the bag into his pocket. "Thank you, Sakura."

"Well, it's been a long night. I think we should head back to our quarters now." The kunoichi crouched down beside her teammate. "Come on, Naruto. Let Iruka-sensei rest. We can visit him tomorrow."

The blond nodded as he stood from his position and turned towards his mentor.

"I'm leaving him to you, Kakashi-sensei. Please take care of him."

The jounin nodded his affirmative and Naruto gave him a smile before retreating from the room with Sakura. Izumo made to move forward, but was held back by Kotetsu.

"Since Iruka is all right, we will head back to our quarters too. We will come by tomorrow to see how he is." Kotetsu gave a bow to his superiors, then dragged Izumo out of the room before the other chunin could say anything.

* * *

Genma was silent as he turned and watched Kakashi who had given his attention back to watching the village after everyone had left. He glanced around the room, glad that not many of the jounin were around to witness the little ruckus they had caused. Walking up to the other man, he leaned against the wall beside the window and fiddled with his senbon, as his eyes darted between the frail chunin and the indifferent jounin.

"Did something happen between you and Iruka?"

Kakashi turned and regarded his friend with a steely grey eye.

"Why do you ask?"

"Iruka came back alone." Genma frowned. "He was evidently upset and the way he avoided looking at me when I asked about you, it's obvious something had happened. I thought I was mistaken when you turned up earlier and caught him before he collapsed. But now, you are acting so detached towards someone you supposedly love."

Kakashi shrugged as he leapt off the window and landed beside his friend. He casted a glance at the still sleeping chunin and then turned to meet Genma's eyes.

"So what do you want me to do? Coddle him or cuddle up with him to show my affections?" The jounin shoved his hands into his pockets. "It doesn't matter what I do or how much I do anyway. He won't reciprocate or even give a damn, because to him, I will forever remain that liar who hurt him first."

Genma was taken aback. Not by the words, but by the almost too calm and cold voice that spoke those words. He was almost certain that something had happened between the two on their way back from the tea house. And he most certainly hoped it wasn't something that was irreparable.

The silver-haired jounin dug into his pocket and came up with the bag of medications that Sakura had given to him earlier. He handed it over to Genma with a solemn look.

"Give this to him when his fever subsides. Make sure he eats something first before he takes the medicine."

Genma eyed the bag of medications, but made no move to take it. He folded his arms and raised a brow.

"Despite what you say, Kakashi, you still care for him. So why can't you do it yourself?"

The jounin shoved the bag into Genma's folded arms as he turned to head out of the room.

"It's no longer in my place to do so."

Genma gaped at the statement. But before he could ask further, Kakashi was already gone. With a frustrated sigh, he glanced at the bag of medications in his arms, then turned his head to regard Raidou, who was watching silently. The scarred jounin gave him a shrug and shook his head in exasperation.

Genma went back to his futon where he sat and glared at what Kakashi had just shoved on him. He couldn't for his life figure out what his friend was thinking about. Just what on earth had happened that had Kakashi retreating and on the verge of giving up this relationship he had fought so hard to salvage?

His thoughts were disrupted when his keen hearing detected the unmistakable sound of muffled sobs. Surprised, he turned his head towards the direction of the sobs, as did Raidou.

"Iruka?" Genma approached uncertainly, as he reached the chunin's futon and crouched down beside it. "Umm…"

Raidou put a comforting hand on the academy teacher's back and rubbed it soothingly, trying to calm him down. Genma let out a deep sigh as he sat and made himself comfortable.

"Would you tell me what happened?" Genma ruffled his hair in mild frustration.

Then was a long pause, before a muffled voice spoke.

"It's nothing." Iruka's strained voice came from behind his arms which he used to shield his face.

"It's not _nothing_ if it has you breaking down and Kakashi looking more detached than I have ever known him to be!" Genma gritted his teeth, feeling helpless about the entire situation.

He had seen both of them breaking during the time they had separated. Then after all the heartbreaks, life and death separations and misunderstandings they went through, they had eventually resolved to stay together. Genma thought they had looked really happy and he was literally celebrating their reunion, glad that they had found their way back to each other. It hadn't been a lie when he had told Raidou that he thought they were a good match.

But right now, it seemed that the whole thing was falling apart again. The relationship which they had so painstakingly tried to make it work was suddenly crumbling into tiny pieces. And Genma could only imagine how many more times of pain that would bring to the two men when everything eventually breaks apart.

Raidou tried to soothe the younger man, even as Iruka tried to stop his tears. The scarred jounin leaned in and whispered comfortingly.

"Tell us what happened, Iruka. More heads are better than one. Perhaps we may offer a solution to help you work things out."

Iruka shifted and slowly sat up, swiping his arm across his eyes, trying to soothe his own pain. Raidou supported him, worried that the younger man may not have the strength yet to sit up properly.

Genma caught a slight movement from the corner of his eyes, as he waited for Iruka to get comfortable. He turned his head to see Izumo and Kotetsu trudging up to where he was sitting. The spiky-haired chunin sighed as he sat beside the jounin while Izumo moved over to Raidou's side, held on to Iruka's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"He was worried." Kotetsu mumbled as he pointed at Izumo. Genma shook his head in exasperation and turned to the tanned chunin, watching him silently.

"Iruka, judging by the looks of things, it doesn't seem like you and Kakashi are capable of sorting this out yourself." Genma reasoned. "We want to help. We don't want to see the two of you end up going your separate ways again. But if you won't say anything, we can't help."

The jounin sighed as he continued, in a quieter voice. "Or are you already thinking of giving up?"

Iruka's head snapped up instantly. He stared at the jounin in mild shock, before he lowered his head again and shook it.

"I don't know. I don't know what to do." Iruka closed his eyes, as the silent tears streaked down his cheeks. "But I don't want to give him up." He admitted softly.

"Has this got anything with what we told you earlier in the tea house?" Izumo finally spoke. Iruka was silent for a full minute before he gave a curt nod.

"You confronted him?" Kotetsu leaned forward, a frown on his face. "What did he say? Did he admit it?"

"Wait a minute, guys." Genma frowned as he pulled Kotetsu back to look at him. "What are you talking about?" The brown eyes narrowed. "Were you two trying to cause a drift between the two of them?"

"Of course not." Kotetsu mumbled, suddenly feeling the nervousness in him spike. Genma could probably kill him in a hundred different ways and make it look like an accident if he said something that is not to the jounin's liking. From what he could gather, Genma was protective of Kakashi, in the same way that Izumo and Kotetsu would jump to Iruka's defense any time.

"We know how much Iruka love him. We want them to be happy too." Izumo sighed, as he tugged off his own bandanna and eyed Genma solemnly. "But with the way things were going around, they won't be truly happy if they don't have it sorted out."

"What is it that you guys have been talking about?" Genma leaned back on one hand and fiddled his senbon with the other, while eyeing the two chunin.

"I confronted him about the rumours."

Genma turned to look at Iruka, a strange look on his face. Raidou frowned a little, as he tried to make sense of that simple statement. The honey-haired jounin fiddled with his senbon, his face turning thoughtful as he started putting the pieces together.

"Rumours, huh?"


	3. Chapter 3: When Thoughts Become Doubts

**A/N: I thank all the anonymous reviews given for the story. I can't reply to you directly, so I will give my thanks here. =) I hope this chapter gives some insight as to why Iruka behaved the way he did, and it's not entirely his fault. And to all those who wants a happy ending, don't worry. I'm a sucker for happy endings, so it will definitely end that way.**

**To Sara: Yes, I'm back. For a long while, I hope. As always, thank you for the review.**

* * *

Chapter 3: When Thoughts Become Doubts

Kakashi sat on the rooftop, silently watching the village below him, his forehead protector grasped loosely in his left hand. His silvery, wild hair seemed to shimmer under the moonlight, as it hung low, covering his sharingan eye.

The conflict that evening had him completely drained. He had no idea how the rumour even began or how this fictitious woman that his lover talked about even came into being. He had never taken an interest in village gossips nor gave a care about them, being aware that these gossips only held a fraction or less of the truth. To him, outright clarification would have been the most sensible approach.

He had thought Iruka thought the same way, especially when it concerned their relationship. That was why, he had been exceptionally stunned when the chunin confronted him over a gossip and what shocked him even further was that Iruka opted to believe what was spreading through the grapevine than what he had said.

'_Why is this happening again? I thought he trusted me.'_

He never wanted to lose his temper, and he had tried to give in as much as he could. But no matter how he had tried to explain, the chunin seemed convinced that the rumours had been the truth and would rather believe it than what he had said.

That had made him snapped.

He knew Iruka probably had the right to be insecure about the whole thing. The hurts from the last time were perhaps, still fresh and raw to the chunin. But ever since they had reconciled, he had tried everything within his means to give Iruka the security that he needed in the relationship. And he thought, he would have set the younger man at ease and at least gained a little trust back.

Kakashi rubbed his face tiredly. Perhaps he didn't try hard enough. That was why Iruka still couldn't trust him completely. He had said all those noble things about being with Iruka, but in the end, he had left the chunin stranded alone in the middle of the streets, after he decided he didn't want to deal with the conflict any longer.

The regret in making that decision had hit him the moment he had teleported away to the memorial stone. But he had continued standing there for a good ten minutes before he realised that he couldn't keep his wandering mind from thinking about how Iruka was at that moment. By the time he got his mind to think clearly, he was already leaping across trees and roofs before he found Iruka making his way back to the shelters, alone and seemingly crying. That scene had almost tore the jounin apart.

He was glad that his instincts had acted when Iruka fainted and he caught his soon-to-be former lover before he hit the ground. If he had allowed Iruka to get hurt with him watching, he would never be able to forgive himself. But still, that did nothing to allay the guilt of what he had said to the younger man before he had left.

He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out the amulet Iruka had given him before. Gripping the cloth tightly, he closed his eyes, trying to shut out the pain in his heart as he tried to decipher what had led to the rumours.

It was true he had requested for a specific apartment from Tsunade and the older lady had granted it to him. It was true he had plans to move in once the building was completed. And it was true he had wanted someone to move in with him.

But that _someone_ would have been Iruka.

Kakashi hadn't thought of how he should bring the topic up to the chunin because he knew Iruka still had his reservations about the relationship and perhaps even a little uncertainty. The younger man may perhaps even feel like they weren't ready to live together. He didn't want Iruka to think that he was only asking out of convenience and he might inadvertently end up hurting the chunin.

He had turned down Tsunade's initial offer of a unit in the jounins' apartment building, because he knew Iruka, while might not voice it out, would still feel uncomfortable living in a building that was specifically dedicated to the elites of the village. Besides, the apartment would not be big enough for two grown men to live in.

He had instead, taken upon himself to find an apartment, while private enough, would allow the chunin easy access to the places he frequent, like the academy, the mission room and the marketplace. He had put much thought into it because he didn't want Iruka to think that the suggestion to live together was done on a whim. He was even preparing himself to ask the question at the right time.

But after so much effort, what did he get in return? He was actually accused of being unfaithful and being a liar.

Kakashi chuckled humourlessly. _'After so much debating, there isn't even a point to ask anymore.'_

He couldn't even bring himself to fault the younger man, because in the end, he still love Iruka, even if everything is shattered now.

And right now, as he sat on the roof, he couldn't help worrying about the chunin, even though he had told Genma he would no longer do so.

* * *

Everyone was silent when Iruka finished recounting what had happened that evening with Kakashi on their way back to the quarters. Genma had a grim look on his face as he closed his eyes and massaged his temples.

"I heard the rumours." Genma began. "I tried to tell Kakashi, but him being himself, had no interest in rumours whatsoever." He eyed the academy teacher before him. "He assumed it was something along the line of gossips about the two of you. And he said whoever has any objections can voice it out to him, but he would never give you up."

Iruka head jerked up to look into Genma's frustrated eyes the moment he heard that statement.

"You know, I have to agree with him on this." Genma leaned back on his hands as he stared at the wooden ceiling. "You have too little faith in him. Even I am shocked that you would actually think that he is cheating on you."

Iruka looked away, guilty with the fact that he had doubted his lover. He, of all people, had doubted his own lover, who had done so much for him. Now that he thought about it, it should come as no surprise that the jounin had been angry. He knew how much effort Kakashi had put in, just to assure him about their relationship. The jounin had even allowed a breach in his privacy, and told anyone who asked about the two of them that they were together. For someone who had a track record of staying private, that had been a huge step out of his comfort zone.

And yet, when it came to a time where their trust for each other was put to the test, he had choose to believe what everyone else was saying and refused to believe the one man he had said he loved and trusted.

At that moment, he hated himself for not reassuring Kakashi when he had the chance. Why had he gone ahead and destroyed the relationship that they had both worked so hard to salvage?

"But if Kakashi-san isn't going to move in with a woman, why is he spotted around the village with the same woman, going in and out of apartment buildings?" Kotetsu mused, interrupting Iruka's thoughts, as he glanced at the honey-haired jounin, who was still fiddling endlessly with his senbon.

Genma shrugged. "If you want the answer to that, you will have to ask him. But I'm pretty sure Kakashi will have a good explanation for it."

There was silence for a while, as jounin and chunin alike tried to figure a way to fix this mess. Genma glanced at Iruka's dejected face sympathetically. He let out an inaudible sigh and landed a hand on the teacher's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Though, I can't say I blame you totally for this. I can probably understand how you feel at the time you heard about the rumours, given what you had to go through the last time with Kakashi. Your doubts and fears are understandable."

"But I…" Iruka trailed off, his eyes casted towards the blanket covering him, his voice a soft whisper. "I should have trusted him. I should have known him better than this. Yet I…" His voice hitched as a sob rose up his throat. "I pushed him away. I refused to listen. I did it again. I tore this relationship apart. I… I can't…"

"Iruka, calm down." Izumo swiped the flowing tears away with a napkin. "It's our fault too that we didn't get the facts right before telling you. We didn't think…" The chunin sighed.

Kotetsu went forward and crouched beside the academy teacher. "We are really sorry, Iruka. We didn't expect things to turn out the way it did. We thought you two would have a good talk about it." He held on to a trembling hand, his gaze apologetic. "Is there anything we can do? Talk to Kakashi-san, perhaps?"

Iruka shook his head. "It's not your fault." He croaked. "Whatever you or anyone else may have said, I should have trusted him. I should have listened to him explain. I should have…" Iruka choked back on his tears. "After all he has done for me… For us… I must have hurt him so deeply when I said he's a cheater and a liar."

"There's no point in finding faults with anyone now." Raidou gave the self-reproaching chunin a gentle pat on the back. "What's done is done. The thing now is how we are we going to fix this?" He turned his head towards the other jounin in the group. "Any good ideas, Genma?"

"Should we talk to Kakashi-sensei on Iruka-sensei's behalf?" A feminine voice cut into the conversation, while Genma was scratching his head and considering his options. All heads turned to see a worried-looking Sakura and a grim-looking Naruto standing a distance away.

"I will be damned. I didn't even hear the two of you coming in." Genma raised a brow at the two teens.

"We didn't mean to intrude. I was worried and wanted to come by and see how Iruka-sensei is doing." Sakura gave an apologetic smile. "Naruto said he couldn't sleep and he wanted to come with me."

"How long have you been here?" Raidou rubbed the nape of his neck in frustration. He didn't think having so many people finding out about the fight would be a good thing.

"Just a couple of minutes ago. But we heard enough to make a guess as to what's going on." Sakura gave a nervous smile.

For the first time, Naruto was looking solemn, his voice grave and low. "So, should we talk to Kakashi-sensei?"

Genma beckoned them over with a wave as he stood from where he was sitting.

"No. Don't worry about it. Stay here with Iruka, check him over, comfort him, whatever. I will go and talk to Kakashi."

"But –" Naruto began, but Genma waved off the teen's protests as he walked out of the room.

"I will talk to him. I know enough of what's going on to fix this." Genma stated as he walked through the door even as a grim thought flashed through his mind.

'_I hope.'_

* * *

The sound of someone landing softly on the roof had Kakashi turning his head slightly to regard the person who had intrude on his privacy.

"Thought you would be here." Genma muttered as he approached the silver-haired nin.

"What is it?" The former ANBU captain turned his gaze back to the village, watching the activities that were still going on, despite it being late at night.

"Just thought I would let you know that Iruka is awake." Genma sat beside his friend, stretching out his legs to the front.

Kakashi felt the tension leaving him at the assurance. "How is he?"

"His fever hasn't subside completely. But it's not as bad as it was before. Guess the vaccine is working fine." Genma said, in an almost casual tone. "And he's awake."

"You said that already." Kakashi slipped the amulet he had been fiddling with before, back into his vest pocket in a single swift movement. Genma raised an eyebrow.

"He's awake and conscious now." The tokujo repeated, slowly and deliberately.

"I heard that the first time!" Kakashi finally turned to glare at his friend. "And what do you want me to do about that?"

"He was crying." Genma muttered in a soft voice. "Well, to be exact, he was trying to hold back his tears, but failed miserably."

That shut the silver-haired jounin up as he turned away, guilt flooding his entire being.

"He was breaking down. Badly. He told us what happened." The specialist continued as he stared at the sky, absently counting the stars. "And said he didn't want to lose you."

Kakashi clenched his fists, as he took in a deep, shaky breath, his eye staring into the distance. He didn't trust his voice enough to speak up then, so he remained quiet. But the flicker of hope that crossed the single grey eye did not go unnoticed by Genma, who was watching him.

"Goodness. I don't understand you, Kakashi!" Genma ruffled his hair with both his hands in frustration. "You can't blame him for reacting the way he did. It's as much your fault as it is his!"

"I know. That's why I'm not blaming him." The copy nin said quietly. "It's my fault that he doesn't trust me –"

"It's not that!" Genma had to rein in his emotions to keep from growling at the infuriating man. "Don't think I don't know what you are thinking. You and your over-analytical mind. Just stop it."

Kakashi raised a silver brow at his friend. Genma shook his head in exasperation. Perhaps it was Asuma's voice of reason speaking to him. But he could make a fairly good guess as to what the renowned jounin was thinking.

"If you had stopped your hesitations and asked him before the rumour started, do you think things would have gotten this out of hand?"

The silver-haired jounin frowned. "Genma, what –"

"You have been meaning to ask him. Am I wrong?" Genma stared into the single grey eye. "To live together."

Kakashi shrugged and looked away. Genma resisted the urge to literally beat some senses into the other jounin, as he continued calmly.

"But as usual, you over-analysed things. You think this is not the right time to ask because you two just got back together. You wondered what he would say or if he would reject you. You think about all the possible scenarios that could happen and how you are going to counter them. In the end, you have so much considerations building up in the back of your mind."

"And then you hold back." The honey-haired man stood and walked towards the edge of the roof, as he shoved his hands into his pocket and watched a couple of shinobi walking on the streets below. "You make decisions for Iruka by deducing how he will answer you before you even voiced out your thoughts and hear him out. Before you even ask him, you tell yourself that nothing will turn out in your favour. And, you end up not saying anything which leads to a whole chain of misunderstandings that wind up hurting both him and you."

Kakashi was silent.

"This is not a battlefield, Kakashi." Genma continued quietly. "And Iruka is not your enemy. You don't need strategies and back-up plans to ensure a successful mission. Part of being in a relationship is exploring the unknowns about your partner. Stop assuming the worst. Stop making decisions for Iruka. Stop trying to predict what would happen." The long-haired jounin sighed. "I don't deny that your analytical skills are legendary. But please, reserve that for the real enemies. Sometimes, I think your genius brain is a curse to you."

Turning and walking back to Kakashi, Genma placed a firm yet comforting hand on his shoulder. "Think about it. It's obvious you can't let him go. Try to be honest with him and tell him what you really think. For once, don't try and assume how he would answer. Let Iruka make his own decision and tell you. Who knows, you might be surprised by the outcome."

With a final pat on Kakashi's shoulder, Genma turned to leave. Just before he leapt off the edge of the roof, he turned back one last time, casting a glance at the silent jounin. Then he dug into his pocket and threw something over, which Kakashi caught with ease.

"Like I said before and I'm saying again, he's awake. And he's your lover. If he still means anything to you, take care of him yourself. I'm not a babysitter."

With that, Genma leapt off the roof to return to the quarters, living Kakashi to his own thoughts.

The copy nin watched as the other man left him alone, before he turned his mismatched eyes towards the bag of medications in his hand.

* * *

All heads turned and eyes watched expectantly when the jounin walked into the room. Genma gave a shrug – vaguely noting that the group had two people less – as he walked to his futon and lay down, pulling the covers over his head.

"Genma?" Raidou frowned.

"I spoke with him. Give him some time to wrap his head around the idea that there are no enemies here." The jounin's muffled voice came from under the blanket.

"What?" Raidou stared baffled at the lump of body mass covered by the white sheet. He turned to look at the others in the room, who looked equally confused.

"What do you mean, Genma-san?" Izumo frowned.

The blanket was thrown aside and the jounin sat up in his futon, as he buried his face in his hands.

"He's overthinking again." Genma muttered, drawing more confused looks to him.

"Could you, perhaps, be a little clearer in what you say?" Kotetsu asked uncertainly.

Genma let out an exhausted sigh. "Honestly, I do not know how to explain this to you." He glanced around the room. "Where's Kakashi's two students anyway?"

"Hokage-sama called for Sakura." Raidou stretched, trying to relax his stiff back. "Naruto said he will go with her. Left a couple of minutes before you came back. They said they will be back later."

Genma nodded absently, as Izumo came up and crouched beside him.

"Would it be better if Kotetsu and I go talk to him? Explain to him or something?"

Raidou gave a wry smile. "If Genma can't even knock senses into him, I doubt you two will be able to do much. Kakashi has a really stubborn streak in him and he can be really difficult to deal with when he wants to be."

"Well…" Kotetsu scratched the side of his head. "It's still worth a try. I mean, we are partly responsible for this mess…"

"Is he on the rooftop?" A tired voice cut in, drawing the attention of everyone in the group.

Genma nodded and a brow hiked up when he saw the younger man began to shift the covers away and attempted to stand up.

"Where are you going, Iruka?" Genma frowned, watching as the academy teacher finally stood up, though a little wobbly on his feet.

"To look for him." Without looking at anyone, Iruka slipped on his sandals and made for the door.

Genma was on his feet in the flicker of an eye. He grabbed Iruka's arm, preventing him from leaving the room. "You are not well enough to be moving around yet."

"Yes, Iruka. You stay here and rest. Let Izumo and I –"

"No." Iruka cut in softly. "Let me deal with this myself."

"Look Iruka, it's not entirely your fault. You don't have to bend to him." Genma spoke softly, trying to soothe the academy teacher. "That idiot has his fair share of wrongs too. Let him sort out his thoughts and he will come to you when he is ready."

"Yes, Iruka. Come on, you need your rest." Izumo moved and stood in front of his friend, eyeing him worriedly, as he tried to get him back under the covers.

Iruka gently pushed the jounin's hand from his arm as he turned to regard the older man and the other chunin.

"I'm not bending myself over for him. If this is a matter that requires the two of us to resolve it together, wouldn't it be better to get it done sooner? So why does it matter who's taking the initiative?"

"Iruka…" Izumo sighed. "But this is…"

"He did so much for me. But I still doubted him." Iruka closed his eyes, trying to keep his tears at bay. "I want to do something for him too. While I still have the chance, I want to do something. I…" The chunin swallowed hard. "I don't want to lose him."

"So are you now saying that you believe him? That he doesn't have any woman like what the rumours are saying?" Genma asked quietly. "You need to be sure, Iruka. It won't help matters if you go impulsively to talk to him now. Even if you do manage to work things out with him, but if your trust is not there, the same thing is bound to happen again."

"If you are not sure..." The jounin continued solemnly. "If you still do not know if you can place your trust in him, I suggest you don't rush into this. While giving him time to work out his own thoughts, you should also take the time to think about what you want. And after that, the two of you can talk."

Iruka contemplated silently for a moment. Then he shook his head. "I want to talk to him now. I _need to_ talk to him. If I don't…" He took in a shuddering breath, his voice coming out barely above a whisper. "If I take my time to think, he will just get further away from me."

"But Iruka, Genma-san is right." Izumo tried to calm his friend down. "If this kind of thing were to happen again, you two will be badly hurt."

"I don't know if I can trust him yet. What happened before, the memories are still too fresh, the hurts still too intense. I'm still afraid." Iruka closed his eyes and admitted quietly. "And after what happened tonight, I realised, we both are just moving backwards instead of forward."

Genma and Izumo were both silent, as they listened to the chunin.

"I told him before, we will forget what happened and start afresh. But tonight, I found out that I have never truly let go of any of the past. I still let them haunt me. I let them influence my thoughts and I let them waver my trust in Kakashi." Iruka swallowed hard. "I was being unfair to him."

"Iruka…" Izumo held his friend's hand, offering a silent comfort.

"He was trying hard to put the past behind and move us forward. He did everything he could. But I let the past bind me and I refused to accept that he had truly changed." Iruka let out a bitter smile. "That is why, I need to talk to him. To explain to him. I don't know how I am going to do it, but I want to put my trust in him again."

The room was silent, neither shinobi knowing what to say. Finally, Genma cleared his throat, eyeing the chunin intently.

"You are not the only one, Iruka. Kakashi has his doubts too." The tokujo started, as he ran a hand through his hair, watching Iruka's stunned reaction to his statement. "I think he's also reminded of the hurts he had put you through before and he had probably sensed your discomfort. That could be the reason why he held back on saying so many things."

The jounin laid a gentle hand on the stiff shoulders. "I don't think you need me to say this to know. But Iruka, you two need to truly let go of the past and cherish what you have now. There's no knowing what's in store in the life of a shinobi." And then he added regretfully. "Just look at Asuma and Kurenai."

The chunin nodded quietly. Genma sighed.

"There's only so much all of us here can do or say. It's really up to you and him to work this out. You've let go of each other once. But now that you've made the decision to start over again, the both of you really need to work on moving past your doubts and hesitancies. There's no point in staying together if you are going to let the past continue haunting you and causing a drift in your relationship."

The jounin gave a dry smile. "Kakashi has his faults and there are moments when he could be really stubborn and infuriating. But even I can see he is trying his best. Surely you must have felt it more than me. Give him a chance to prove himself. I'm saying this, not just because he's my friend. But also because I think you two deserve to be together after having gone through so much. And I care for you as a friend. I would hate to see you getting so torn up over this."

Iruka swiped the tears from his eyes, as he forced a smile to his face. "Thank you, Genma-san."

"Well, you are in no condition to move around too much. I will teleport you to the rooftop. Have a good talk with him." Genma smiled as he pulled the chunin closer. Quickly flipping his fingers through the seals, the two of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Genma and Iruka rematerialised in one corner of the rooftop. The jounin pointed towards the direction where Kakashi was seated and gestured for the younger man to move forward.

"It's chilly tonight. Try not to stay here for too long. You wouldn't want your cold to get worse." Genma gave the chunin an encouraging smile. "Now go. I'm leaving."

With another quick flicking of his fingers, the jounin disappeared again in a puff of smoke. Iruka eyed his lover sitting a distance away before he took the first hesitant step towards him.


	4. Chapter 4:When Confession Yield Progress

**A/N: And here's the next chapter. And to those I couldn't reply personally, thanks for the reviews!**

* * *

Chapter 4: When Confessions Yield Progress

The soft crunching of sandals on the wooden rooftop alerted the former ANBU of another's presence. With a deep sigh, he turned his head, having felt a flash of the familiar chakra signature from a teleportation jutsu mere seconds ago.

"What do you want now, Gen –"

The sentence was cut short when Kakashi realised that it wasn't who he thought it was on the rooftop with him. The visible eye trained over the figure approaching him on unstable footsteps.

Iruka swallowed hard as he walked unsteadily over to where his silver-haired lover watched him quietly. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to shield off the cold winter draft surrounding him. The chill was further amplified by the steely, cold eye observing him from a distance.

He took another step forward and his knees chose at that moment to give out on him. He stumbled.

The jounin moved before Iruka could even blink his eyes and the younger man was momentarily stunned when his fall was cushioned by the feel of a sturdy, warm body instead of the hard wood. A tensed hand had circled around his waist, keeping him from falling. He glanced up hesitantly, meeting his lover's eye watching him with concern and an array of other emotions that he couldn't pinpoint.

"Kakashi…"

"What are you doing out of bed?" Kakashi couldn't help the worried frown as Iruka tried to gain his foothold. The jounin's hands hovered over the frail frame, ready to catch at the first sign of unsteadiness. "Go back and sleep. Your cold will get worse if you stay out here."

Iruka reached out and grabbed the jounin's arm before he could turn and walk away. His hoarse voice soft as he spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Kakashi's heart clenched, knowing full well that the younger man was apologising for the earlier outburst. He swept a hand through his silver strands, exhaustion clear in his stiff posture.

"There's nothing that you need to apologise for."

Iruka walked unsteadily around and faced the older man. Kakashi looked world-weary, the tension showing clearly in his eye and his tiredness obvious in the jaded voice he spoke in. Iruka casted his eyes downwards, staring at his sandals, even as he felt the intense grey eye watching him with hesitations. Reaching out a hand, he clutched on tightly to the jounin's arm, feeling the strain in the muscles – the tell-tale sign of retreat – as he moved in closer and leaned his forehead against the broad shoulder to prevent the older man from leaving.

Iruka didn't think he would have anymore tears left after the number of times he had cried that night. But still, at the sight of his tormented lover – knowing that he had been the one to cause it – the tears started to form in the corner of his eyes.

"I'm sorry." The chunin repeated, mixed emotions welling up in him. "I'm sorry."

Kakashi had gone stiff the moment the younger man leaned against him. The tortured voice as it whispered apologies over and over again like a chant, tugged at his heart painfully. The jounin couldn't bear to see the brunette in such an anguished state, and in that moment, the fight that they had just a few hours ago was pushed to the back of his mind. The only thing that was occupying his mind and guiding his actions was the thought of comforting Iruka. Reaching up hesitant hands, he wrapped it around the lean waist.

"Iruka…" The older man rubbed the chunin's back with gentle fingers, trying to soothe him. "It's ok."

Iruka shook his head against Kakashi's shoulder. "No." His voice hitched. "I should have believed you and listened to what you said. I should have trusted you more than anyone else. I'm sorry I didn't. I'm sorry I listened to the rumours. I'm sorry I believed what others were saying against you. I –"

"No, Iruka. It's my fault that I didn't do enough to give you the faith to trust me again." Kakashi cut in, his own voice laced with hurt. "I understand. You have nothing to be sorry about."

The hand on the jounin's arm tightened. Iruka's body shook as the tears he tried to hold back cascaded down his cheeks. Why is it at moments like these, his older lover still chose to remain as gentle as he always had been? Why is Kakashi trying to take all the blames when it was so obvious that Iruka was at fault too? Why isn't the older man blaming him? Why had he been so blind to not see the deep amount of devotion and dedication the jounin had put into this relationship and how much he had changed? Why on earth had he doubted Kakashi in the first place?

"Come, Iruka. Let's get you back to the room." Kakashi said quietly, as he tried to get Iruka to move. But the chunin stubbornly refused to budge, clinging on to the strong arm.

"I was afraid." Iruka started, anguish filling his voice. The sentence caught the older man off guard and his actions of trying to move the academy teacher ceased immediately.

"I was afraid that you will leave again." Iruka whispered brokenly. "I was afraid we will end up like before. I don't think I can go through that a second time." He took in a deep, shaky breath. "I know in the back of my mind that the rumour was irrational; that it can't be believed. But, the past still haunts me." Iruka sobbed into the jounin's shirt. "It's not your fault, Kakashi. I'm sorry I doubted you because of my own fears. I'm sorry I couldn't leave the past behind and move on. I'm sorry I hurt you."

As Kakashi listened to the admittance, the initial frustrations that had plagued him since the conflict was slowly replaced by a mix of understanding towards the younger man and anger at himself. While he had always had the feeling that Iruka was insecure, he had no idea that the fear ran so deep until right this instant. He mentally lashed out at himself for having given in to his anger during their fight instead of trying to understand why Iruka had acted the way he did.

The guilt flooded him when he was reminded that he had suggested ending their relationship towards the end of the argument. Right at that moment, he wished he could punch himself for even thinking that.

As for Iruka, he knew he had so much to say, to let the jounin understand. He knew in a way, Genma had been right. To move forward, they would need to first move past their doubts and hesitancies. And in order to do that, he would have to take the risk and lay it all bare to the jounin.

The first step to putting his trust back in his lover would start from here. He had to trust that Kakashi would not look at him differently or even reconsider their relationship when he starts being honest about all his doubts. He had to trust that the older man would work this out together with him.

But he couldn't keep his focus anymore when the gentle hands started to pull him close. And the fuzzy feeling in his head was making him unable to think clearly. He couldn't even remember what he wanted to say anymore.

He was vaguely aware of long fingers running gently down his back, as he buried his face into the shoulder before him. He clutched on tighter, afraid that if he were to loosen his grip, Kakashi would disappear instantly. He ignored the pain in his head, which was amplified by his anguish, as he focused on the one person who mattered. He paid no heed to the cold wind which was blowing, bringing shivers to his body and making him feel feverish. He didn't even give a care when he felt his body temperature rising rapidly.

But Kakashi did. He was momentarily shaken out of his self-reproaching state, when he felt the warmth emanating through the body he was holding and the shivers that ran through the younger man. He glanced down and was stunned to see that Iruka's face was flushed, and it was most certainly not from embarrassment.

"Iruka!"

The jounin lowered the both of them, until he had Iruka lying in his arms. But the chunin stubbornly refused to let go of his grasp on Kakashi. The older man removed a glove and moved his hand to Iruka's forehead. A curse escaped him when he realised that the fever had returned with a vengeance.

"Iruka, I'm getting you back to the room. You are burning up." Kakashi moved to lift the younger man in his arms. But Iruka shook his head in protest.

"No." He muttered weakly, his red-rimmed eyes struggling to stay open, even as he felt the pain and dizziness rapidly taking over his consciousness. "I still need to talk to you. I have so much to say…"

"We will talk later, Iruka." Kakashi shifted his hold on the younger man to free his fingers for a teleportation jutsu.

"No." Iruka protested weakly, his grasp tightening briefly, stopping the jounin in his actions. "It will be too late. Kakashi…" He took in a painful, shaky breath, as he felt himself losing the battle to stay awake. Tears rolled down from the brown orbs, leaving a trail as it rolled off the cheeks. "Please don't go."

"I'm here." The jounin swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise we will talk more when you are better."

Iruka shook his head, trying to stop Kakashi from bringing him back to the room. But the effort to stay awake was too much. Slowly, he slipped away from consciousness even as his senses registered the feel of warm arms wrapping tightly around him. A whisper escaped his lips, just before he surrendered to the darkness.

"Don't go…"

* * *

The small group of shinobi huddled in a corner of the room, talking in hushed, urgent whispers.

"What were you guys thinking?" Sakura hissed, trying to keep her voice down to avoid drawing the attention of the few other jounin in the room who were going about their own affairs. "He's still having a fever!"

Genma scratched the side of his head, smiling awkwardly. "He insisted on going to look for Kakashi."

"Even so, you shouldn't have let him have his way." The medic nin had to restrained herself from whacking some sense into her superiors. "You let him go out in this weather, without even an additional layer of clothing?"

"Umm… Sorry. That slipped our minds." Kotetsu mumbled, a little guilty that he had not thought of that earlier.

"Calm down, Sakura-chan." Naruto laughed nervously. "They just wanted to help Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura rolled her eyes. She couldn't deny the goodwill behind the action of letting her academy teacher go out to look for her team leader. But this bunch of shinobi weren't kids. They should have at least thought of the consequences and took precautions.

The conversation was disrupted when the group was startled by a brief flash of chakra that enveloped the atmosphere for a brief second. A split moment later, a silver-haired shinobi appeared, holding tightly to a limp body in his arms.

"Kakashi!" Genma stood and casted a glance at the unconscious man that the older man was holding. He paled. "What happened to Iruka?"

The jounin strode briskly forward and placed Iruka on the futon. He casted a glance up and looked at Sakura who was watching the two of them with muted horror in her eyes.

"His fever's back." Kakashi gritted, as he tried to remain calm.

The kunoichi snapped out of her shock and sprang into action. She turned and pushed Naruto towards the door.

"Go get me my medic kit from the room."

The blond sprinted from the room, while Sakura moulded healing chakra and held her hands over the unresponsive chunin, trying to keep the temperature down. Every once in a while, she casted a glance at her silver-haired sensei, who was sitting on the other side of the futon, silently watching the academy teacher. There was a tensed silence as Genma, Raidou, Izumo and Kotetsu watched from the side.

Naruto returned a minute later, with a bag in his hand. "Here, Sakura-chan."

The pink-haired teen rummaged through her bag and brought out a thermometer. She leaned forward and began taking the temperature of the unconscious man. A moment later, the equipment beeped and when she read what was shown on the small screen, she let out an almost exasperated sigh.

Working quickly, she brought out a syringe and a bottle from one of the casings in her bag. As she prepared the vaccine, she glared at the four shinobi standing behind her, watching nervously.

"His temperature has gone higher than it was before. I will give him a stronger dose to bring down the fever." She discarded the empty bottle into her bag and poised the syringe over her former teacher's arm. "Keep him in bed and out of the cold outside, until he recovers."

Kakashi watched from the corner of his eye as the medic nin injected the serum into his lover's arm, before returning his gaze to the younger man. Sakura removed the syringe and did a final check on the academy teacher before she started to pack her things into her bag. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she stood and eyed the group wearily.

"Please keep an eye on him. One more time of recklessness, and he will have to be admitted into the hospital." The kunoichi glanced at the clock in the room, which read half past midnight. She turned back to the group. "I will come by again in the morning to see how he is."

Sakura eyed her team leader worriedly before she turned and walked out of the room. Naruto lingered around for a while more before Genma pushed him and the other two chunin out.

"We will look after him. Go get some rest. You can come by again in the morning."

* * *

Kakashi sat quietly by the futon, his right hand reaching out once in a while to sweep away the hair the cascaded over the sleeping face. Iruka's hand, which was previously grabbing on to his left arm had slipped and the fingers were now grasping onto his shirt's sleeve, never relenting its grip. It was as if, even in his subconscious state, he wanted to hold on to the older man.

Genma entered the room with a wash basin and a cloth. He set the things down beside Kakashi and slipped into a sitting position, watching the sleeping chunin, whose breathing had finally even out. But the whimpers that escaped the younger man every now and then, showed just how much discomfort he was in.

"How is he?" Genma asked quietly.

Kakashi adjusted the blanket covering his lover and turned to wash the cloth, wringing it dry before gently wiping the chunin's clammy skin.

"His temperature's gone down a little."

"Sorry. I shouldn't have let him leave the room."

Kakashi turned and arched an eyebrow at his friend, with an unreadable look in his eye. Genma held up his hands to placate the silver-haired nin before he could say anything.

"Wait. In my defence, I did try to stop him. But he was adamant about looking for you. He was so torn up over the conflict he had with you, there was nothing that I or the others could have said to make him change his mind."

"Besides, you should have seen how he was earlier." Genma stood and shifted over to the window, stretching his legs along the way. "After all the things he said, neither of us had the heart to stop him."

Kakashi reached out and held on to a tanned hand lightly. "I know. He's stubborn. You wouldn't have been able to stop him." He muttered. "Still, he should have known better than to get out of bed in his current state."

"You are in no position to say that. You are just as stubborn if not more." Genma casted an almost amused look at his friend.

Kakashi smiled wryly. "I was at fault too. I should have brought him back the moment I found him at the rooftop, instead of letting him stay up there."

Genma crouched down beside Kakashi, a hand on his shoulder, squeezing comfortingly. "So, did the two of you at least get to talk a little?"

Kakashi nodded. Genma smiled softly, his eyes flickering over to the sleeping brunette. "Though I don't agree with his recklessness, I do admire how he's so sure about what he wants, despite all his doubts. It's time you face this like a mature adult, Kakashi. If Iruka can get past himself and be honest with you, surely you can reciprocate that too."

Standing up and stretching his arms, Genma yawned. "Well, it's been a long night. I'm going to sleep."

Kakashi stared at the specialist trudging back to his futon.

"Genma."

"Hm?" The tokujo casted a lazy eye over his shoulder.

"Thanks."

Genma let out a wide grin, knowing that the simple appreciation spoke volumes. As he slipped under the covers, he gave a solemn look to his friend.

"Anytime."

* * *

Kakashi shifted and leaned back against the wall, his long legs stretching across his and Iruka's futons, as he watched his lover snuggled up to him and slipped into a deeper sleep.

The discomfort from the fever had been evident from the way Iruka had been restlessly shifting in his sleep. It took a while before the chunin found a more comfortable position and settled into an undisturbed rest. Granted, his comfortable position did look like an awkward angle to Kakashi, especially when he had used the jounin's toned abdomen as a pillow, as he curled up under the blanket with his fingers still stubbornly grasping at the older man's sleeve hem.

But the copy nin was able to take comfort in the fact that his lover was finally able to sleep peacefully. He tried not to move too much to avoid waking up the younger man, even though he was beginning to feel the stiffness in his shoulders and back.

Reaching out a gloved hand, he gently tucked back a strand of hair that had fallen across the scarred face facing him. His fingers lingered and he caressed the chunin's sleeping face, as the brief conversation they had just a few hours ago on the rooftop kept replaying itself in his mind.

'_Looks like we still have a long way to go to truly understand each other, Iruka.'_

Iruka stirred lightly and mumbled something in his sleep. Kakashi froze momentarily when he thought he had woken up the academy teacher, his fingers stopping its movements on the tanned face. Then Iruka shifted and burrowed deeper into the warm 'pillow' below him, almost burying his face into Kakashi's shirt. And when the sound of steady breathing reached the jounin's ear, he finally relaxed, allowing his fingers to trail lightly over the scar on Iruka's nose.

"How is it that you can always hold a sway over my emotions?" Kakashi whispered softly, a fond look on his face. _'Just one word from you will determine the kind of mood I will be in.'_

The jounin moved his hand to the tanned one gripping on to his sleeve. He gently pried it off and lightly laced his fingers with the chunin's unmoving ones, rubbing the back of the tanned hand with a calloused thumb. Leaning forward slightly, he studied the innocent, sleeping face of the person he loved so much.

"In these more than twenty years as a shinobi, I've never had a problem building that impenetrable wall of detachment, where emotions don't exist. Other than anger, other forms of emotions are but unfamiliar feelings. But when you appeared, you just infiltrated this wall so effortlessly, you don't even have to try. And with a few choice words, you can bring the entire wall crumbling down." Kakashi's voice was soft, the words meant only for his lover's ears.

"And with it comes all the emotions, some of which I don't even have a name for." The jounin lifted the tanned hand, pressing a masked kiss on the fingers laced with his. "I will be damned, to have someone affecting me like this, especially with the kind of reputation I have." He gripped the fingers a little tighter, a small smiled forming under his mask. "But if that someone is you, I don't care even if I will be damned to hell."

Leaning back into his position against the wall, Kakashi rested his head against the hard wood behind him. He closed his eyes, knowing full well that he _doesn't really_ want to let the younger man go, despite his angry words from before. Which means, he would have to prepare himself to be forthright with Iruka. He wasn't sure if he could stop with his habit of holding back or trying to anticipate Iruka's responses. But he had to try. After all, they had already came this far even with all the impossibilities from before. He was sure he would be able to get through this obstacle too, just as long as Iruka is by his side.

And in his deep slumber, Iruka thought he heard the gentle whispers of a familiar, soothing voice that drifted into his dreams. Still asleep and without even knowing, a contented smile formed on his face, as he subconsciously tightened his fingers around the ones grasping his.

* * *

Genma was literally amused as he bent over the two men sleeping in the corner of the room where their futons lay.

"I can't believe them. They are like kids. With the way they are behaving now, you wouldn't have guessed that they had that big fight last night, which almost broke the both of them."

Raidou pulled on his vest and casted a glance over his shoulder. "And we should be glad, shouldn't we? Given everything that had happened, I guess this didn't end too badly. Though I think it was both their courage to face up to this instead of running away that we have this happy ending."

"Happy ending, huh?" Genma straightened and zipped up the flak jacket that had been hanging off his shoulders previously. "Well, I could say they are half way there. They still have things they need to sort out between them and that rumour to deal with. And we will really see a happy ending when this idiot decides to put aside his misgivings and ask the question that he has been dying to ask. And of course, whether the happy ending will come to pass also depends on the answer Iruka gives."

"And what's that question?" Curiosity twinkled in the scarred jounin's eyes.

"You will know when Kakashi decides to ask." Genma grinned. "It's not my prerogative to announce his thoughts to everyone before he even got a chance to voice it."

Raidou chuckled softly to avoid waking up the two men. He casted a glance at Kakashi, his expression torn between worry and amusement. "With that sleeping posture, he's gonna have a hard time dealing with the aches in his back later." Then he let out a low laugh. "Iruka does look extremely comfortable though."

Genma slipped on his sandals and turned to walk out of the room. "Well, everything is now in their own hands. We shouldn't interfere any further. Come on, let's get to work!"

The two jounin walked out of the room and turned the corner, almost crashing into the other two who were coming in the opposite direction.

"Whoa!" It was the years of trained reflex that Genma somehow managed to avoid running over the two teens. "How early, Naruto and Sakura."

"I need to get to the hospital by seven. So I thought I would come by now to see how Iruka-sensei is." Sakura bowed politely to her two superiors. "You are early too, Genma-san, Raidou-san."

"Yeah. It finally stopped snowing. So we thought we should assess the situation and if all is fine, we could start on all those reparation works again. It's been put off long enough." Genma grinned, fiddling with his senbon. "As for Iruka, I could say he's doing fairly well. He's still sleeping. So maybe you could come by again later."

"Is everything all right?" Naruto frowned. "I mean with him and Kakashi-sensei."

Genma almost let out a laugh. Mostly from relief, now that the tension from the night before was gone. He stepped to the side and gestured the two teens towards the doorway. "You might want to take a look yourself."

The blond crept up quietly with his pink-haired teammate behind him. Squinting their eyes to adjust to the dark room, which was barely lit by the pre-dawn sky, they stepped into the room.

While Naruto was still trying to find his two teachers, Sakura almost burst into a fit of giggles when she stared into the far corner of the room where she knew Iruka's futon lay. Grabbing Naruto's arm, the medic nin pointed to a corner. There was a moment of pause before a mischievous grin slowly spread across the face of the kyuubi vessel when he caught sight of the two sleeping figures.

"Let's not disturb them." Sakura whispered. But the blond frowned and shook his head lightly, indicating his desire to at least prank his teachers a little for making him worry about them.

The light, warning twist on his arm made him change his mind. He shot his teammate an innocent look, but Sakura gave him an unconvinced snort and narrowed her eyes. "I know what you are thinking. If you dare disturb them now, I will make sure you spend at least two weeks in the hospital."

Naruto almost let out a groan. But the hand that clamped over his mouth shut him up and sobered him immediately. It wouldn't do to wake up a room of slumbering jounin. That was just plain suicidal.

Quietly, the two teens left the room the way they came. When they stepped into the hallway, Genma was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, and a contagious grin on his face. Raidou stood beside him, with a smile.

"So, satisfied?" Genma chuckled.

Sakura nodded, a relieved smile on her face. "I should get to the hospital now to put in a request for Iruka-sensei's medications." Then she added with a wink. "And I should also pick up some muscle relaxants for Kakashi-sensei."

Genma nodded as he pushed himself off the wall. "All right. Let us get the day started!"


	5. Chapter 5: When There's a Fine Line

**A/N: Sorry it took me a while to get this up. I had been debating with myself while writing this chapter. And I guess, this more or less is getting to the end. Next chapter will be the conclusion/epilogue. Thank you Sara for the review. And thanks to all the guest reviews too! I certainly appreciate the encouragement. And now, on to the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 5: When There's a Fine Line Between

Iruka stirred awake, woken by the morning sun that shone through the glass panes of the closed window. The first thing that assaulted him as he was pulled to consciousness, was the rough and dry feeling in his throat. He could feel the raspy sensation when he swallowed and his mouth felt like sandpaper.

He blinked a few times, squinting his eyes to make sense of the place he was in, even as he tried to regain his composure. His head still hurts and he wasn't sure he wanted to wake up when the place he was lying on felt so warm and comfortable. He shifted slightly, vaguely noting that his pillow didn't feel quite the same. It felt a little different and warmer than usual.

And it was moving slightly.

The chunin was momentarily stunned when the thought registered. Finally focusing his line of vision, the first thing he saw was a sea of navy blue; the cloth where his cheek was resting against felt soft. Following the trail of blue cloth, he paused when he saw his fingers entwined with the pale ones on a gloved hand. A small smile formed on his face, as he let his gaze lingered, giving the gloved hand a light squeeze. His eyes travelled further up before they finally rested on a pale, masked face.

Even in his state of haziness, Iruka knew that the jounin's sleeping position couldn't have been comfortable. But yet, instead of moving him, Kakashi had allowed Iruka to use him as a pillow and sleep comfortably through the night.

He felt his heart twinge at the sacrifice his lover had made for him. Even though he knew the copy nin probably wouldn't think too much of it, but to Iruka, these little actions convinced him even more of Kakashi's stand in the relationship. And that brought on another wave of guilt in him when he remembered the doubts he had harboured towards the older man. God, why had he been so foolish?

Shifting lightly, Iruka tried to get into a sitting position to ease Kakashi of his weight. He tried a couple of times to push himself up using his elbows, but his body lacked the strength to sustain him. It seemed like the fever had taken him out when more than he expected it to.

He was surprised when he felt a strong hand on his arm and gently supporting him into a sitting position. Turning his head, he found himself staring into a grey eye that was looking back at him cautiously.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." Iruka shifted and with the jounin's help, leaned back against the wall where he got a better leverage to remain in a sitting position.

"No, I wasn't really sleeping." Kakashi retracted his hand and turned to the side to pick up a bottle of water, which he handed to the younger man, who accepted it gratefully. He rolled his shoulders, feeling the knots and kinks in his back. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Iruka said, after taking a few sips out of the bottle. He casted his gaze downwards and placed the bottle aside before he reached out a hesitant hand, slipping it into the pale one in front of him. "You can't be feeling that great though. To be in that position for the whole night..." The chunin gulped nervously. "It must have been straining. I'm sorry."

Kakashi sighed as he moved to sit beside his younger lover. He reached for the chunin's other hand and grasped both in his gloved ones, as he rubbed soothing circles at the back of a tanned hand. "Don't apologise to me for every little thing, Iruka." The jounin paused, as he tried to regain his composure. "Besides, I should be the one to apologise. I'm sorry for losing my temper last night."

The chunin's head shot up instantly. His grip on the older man's hand tightened, as he shook his head. "No, Kakashi! It's not your fault. I mean, I was the one… I… I… I was irrational to listen to mere rumours. I shouldn't have doubted you. I can understand why you are angry. I would too if I were you." His throat was hurting as he rasped out the words, but he couldn't care less. He just wanted to get Kakashi to understand that the fight the night before was no fault of the older man. "I'm sorry, Kakashi. I shouldn't have…"

Kakashi pulled his lover into an embrace, cutting off the incoherent ramblings. He pressed his masked lips against the top of the soft, brown hair and whispered gently. "Calm down and listen to me, Iruka."

He felt the chunin stilled and tensed against him for a minute before the pliant form in his arm slumped into his embrace and nodded lightly against his shoulder. Fingers grasped at the front of his shirt as Kakashi pulled away slightly. He reached forward a hand to pull Iruka's untied hair away from his face and tucked it behind his ear.

"What happened last night, the fault cannot be pinned on just one person." The jounin spoke in a quiet voice as he watched the flitting emotions passed the tanned face. "If you think that you were at fault for listening to rumours and doubting me, then I was at fault too for not staying with you and understanding why you did that. I gave in to my anger and took off before even trying to find out why you said what you said. I failed as a lover when I failed to communicate with you."

"No…" Iruka looked at the jounin, the brown orbs rimmed with unshed tears. "Don't say that."

"Given how things ended between us the last time, I should have understood your apprehensions." Kakashi swallowed hard at the reminder of how he had let his lover down in the past. But he pushed on, knowing that he needed to be honest with the chunin about his innermost thoughts for them to move forward.

"I should have known that our road to returning to normalcy wouldn't be that easy. In fact, I understood that very well in my mind. But outwardly, I still failed to put that understanding into more appropriate actions." Kakashi watched the academy teacher, a soft look in his eye. "The pain from before is still too raw, isn't it, Iruka?"

The fingers gripping Kakashi's shirt tensed. Iruka opened his mouth to say something, but the jounin shook his head, stopping him from saying anything.

"You don't have to deny it. I know it still hurts. Because, it's raw, even for me." Kakashi whispered hoarsely. "The hurts I caused you, are constant reminders to me. I'm well aware of how deeply I hurt you the last time and I don't want to make the same kind of mistakes again. So, I watch my actions and my words around you and sometimes, I hold back on the things I wanted to tell you, because I don't want to end up hurting you again, even if it wasn't intentional." The single grey eye shuttered close in pain. "But in the end, because I was too conscious of my actions, I couldn't tell you exactly what I was thinking and I still end up hurting you."

Iruka choked back a sob, and he raised his hand to the jounin's masked cheek. "Please love, don't say anymore."

Kakashi leaned against and seemingly relaxed into the tanned hand on his face. He swallowed hard, and then slowly, his single visible eye opened and he gazed into the chunin's expressive ones.

"I will not be able to forgive myself if I am not completely honest with you this time." The jounin casted his gaze downwards, staring at the spot where he and Iruka's knees touched, and continued. "I told myself that I was being considerate when I chose to hold back on not telling you. But in all honesty, I was just uncertain. I was afraid of how you would react and what you would say. I don't know what I would do if you were to reject me."

Iruka closed his eyes and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the jounin's. He felt the lump rising in his throat as he digested his lover's words. It had never crossed his mind that Kakashi was taking on so much on his own and hiding so many things, just to make Iruka comfortable in their relationship. It made him happy and pained him at the same time.

Raising shaking fingers, he pressed them against Kakashi's masked lips, forbidding him from speaking further. Iruka let out a shaky breath before he spoke.

"I don't know if it is because you really have no faith in me or you think so little of my love for you." There was no resentment in the brown orbs, but Kakashi could still sense the hurt behind the words. "But I can't say I blame you for not being able to tell me all these before, though I wish you had. Like in the same way I wished I had told you some things, but I never did."

"I won't be the noble person now and say that I had complete faith in this relationship." Iruka wrapped his arms around the jounin. "If I have to be honest, I did have moments of doubts. Especially at times, when people are talking about us, saying things like how on earth did an elite jounin and an academy teacher ended up together in a relationship. It's not like there's much in common."

Iruka felt his lover tensed in anger at the words and he rubbed gently along the shoulder blades to soothe the jounin. "They had a point, you know. Sometimes I wonder too, what you saw in me. Why you would do so much, just to sustain this relationship. There are so many others out there, who are way better than me. They could have been much sweeter, with better temperaments, excellent skills and probably, much more things in common with you."

"But they are not you." Kakashi muttered, gradually relaxing under his chunin's ministrations. "I don't care who's sweeter or has a better temper. I don't care about their ranks or if they have anything in common with me. I just want someone who makes me happy, and can let me be myself. Someone who knows me well enough and able to put up with my quirks and my temper. Someone forgiving and patient who can accept me as the person I am. And that someone is you, Iruka."

Iruka chuckled lightly. "You make me sound like a saint."

"You are my saint." The jounin took in a deep breath. "You accepted me and embraced me, with my past and all. I'm someone who had killed thousands and my hands are stained with their blood. I had failed people so many times over. I had committed so many irreversible mistakes in the past and will probably continue making them in the future. But you could look past all these and continue loving me." Kakashi pulled back and looked into his lover's eyes which were swimming with emotions. "So don't ever say you are not enough. You are everything and more than I could ever hope to have."

"Kakashi…"

"And if you have doubts about your skills, then you wouldn't even have made it to be an academy teacher in the first place." Kakashi pulled down his mask and pressed his lips against the chapped ones before him. Pulling away, the lips curled up in a small smile, as he adjusted his mask back in place. "Teaching a class of thirty brats to throw kunai and shuriken, while diverting your attention to deal with the playful ones, can sometimes be a more deadly task than fighting a village of S-rank criminals out there. And you are doing that on a daily basis. A feat I should say, isn't easily achievable by many, myself included."

Iruka stared at the older man, stunned. Kakashi smiled and reached out a hand to swipe away a tear that had rolled down a tanned cheek unknowingly. "And, if your skills weren't up to par, do you really think you would have been appointed the role as the head instructor in the academy? You know how strict our council is when it comes to selecting someone of calibre to groom the next generation of shinobi. And it was also through your hands, that we now have one of the finest shinobi across the lands – Naruto."

"It was his hard work that brought him to where he is now. I have nothing to do with it."

"You were there for him before even any of us were. It was because you believe in him that he pushed himself forward." The jounin eyed his lover affectionately. "You have the strength that most of us do not. The strength to keep on believing, no matter how bleak things may seem."

"And isn't that an irony? I didn't have that faith when it comes to things concerning us. I didn't have the faith to believe in our relationship or you. If I did, we would not even have the conflict we had last night." Iruka turned away, refusing to meet his lover's eyes. His voice was shaking with emotions as he spoke and it took every ounce of his strength to not give in to them.

But Kakashi cupped a pale hand on Iruka's cheek, making him look up into the grey eye watching him with mixed emotions. "You know, in a way, I'm glad it happened. If it didn't, we would not be having this conversation now, and we would perhaps never know how much we are hiding from each other."

Brown eyes flickered uncertainly to watch the silver-haired man. Kakashi pulled the younger man into his embrace once more, as he pressed masked lips against the crown of brown hair. Then he rubbed soothingly against Iruka's back, trying to calm him.

"I won't ask you to just forget about everything and lay your insecurities aside. I know it takes time to get over your inner fears and start being open about things. But all I ask for, Iruka, is that if there ever is another time you are upset, or if you are uncertain about things, please voice it out. I don't want you to hold it in and hurt yourself in the process. And even if it is just a little at a time, I will appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me." He pressed another lingering kiss in the hair. "And don't ever think of yourself as anything lesser. You are perfect the way you are as a shinobi, a teacher and a lover, and more than what the village or I could ever ask for."

Iruka closed his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. He nodded against the jounin's shoulder. "I promise." He whispered. "But in return, I want you to do the same too. Please don't ever think that there are things you can't tell me just because you don't want to hurt me. I'm not a fragile doll and I don't break so easily. I would rather you let me know and we can discuss the issues than you hiding from me and I don't know what to expect. A relationship is something between two people and they go through things together, be it good or bad. There's no point if you just want to present the good side to us both and take on the bad things on your own. That is not a relationship. It's an illusion."

The jounin smiled and tightened his arms around the younger man. "I know. I promise too to do as you ask." Then, he let out a low chuckle. "I'm quite the idiot, aren't I? If only I had said these earlier."

Iruka snuggled deeper into the embrace, a true smile finally breaking on the tanned face, after all the moments of tension. He laughed softly. "That makes the two of us."

The two sat in comfortable silence – something that had probably evaded them for the longest time. Iruka closed his eyes, as he listened to the steady heartbeat of the older man. Kakashi's fingers stroked his back absently, relaxing him further.

Kakashi stared at his younger lover, a slightly strained smile on his face. There was still something plaguing his mind, which he knew he would have to talk about soon. Finally, he let out an inaudible sigh as he prepared himself for another confession ahead.

"Iruka."

"Hm?" The chunin glanced up at his older lover, curiosity in the eyes.

"There is something else I want to tell you. You know, that rumour, it's partly true." Kakashi tried to make it sound casual, but the edge in his voice told the chunin otherwise. Iruka pulled out of the embrace and sat upright, his gaze never leaving the single grey eye.

Kakashi steeled himself and pushed on, resisting the urge to retract his previous statement and just pull the younger man back into his arms. "I did request for another apartment from Tsunade-sama in one of the districts, in exchange for the one she offered me in the jounins' apartment building. It's a nice place, in a rather private district, and within short travelling distance to the common areas. She had already agreed to it. It is almost ready, just pending a final check on it."

"Oh?" Iruka swallowed dryly as he tried to remain calm. But the jounin could already hear the hesitations in the quiet voice. "I… I guess I will have to make other sleeping arrangements then." His smile faltered. "When are you moving?"

Kakashi reached forward and held the chunin's hands in his, keeping his gaze fixated on their hands. "I don't know. I haven't signed any papers yet, because I'm not sure." He grasped the hands in his tightly. "I'm not sure if you will agree to move in with me."

There was a long moment of silence. When the jounin finally dared to look up, he saw Iruka looking at him in stunned surprise.

"Wh… What?" Iruka finally whispered, disbelief crossing his face.

"That was what I had been meaning to ask you." Kakashi forced himself to meet his lover's eyes, even as anxiety on how the younger man would answer, ate away in him. "One of those things that I could never bring myself to tell you. But since I promised to be honest with you, I guess I should start with this."

"I… Well…" The jounin smiled grimly under his mask. "The rumours weren't wrong. I had plans to move in with someone. I just have no idea how it turned out to say that I'm moving in with a woman. You are the only person that had ever crossed my mind to live together."

The chunin was still gaping in surprise at his lover. He didn't know how to react to this proposal – though not sudden, but still an unexpected twist of events. It hadn't occurred to him that Kakashi would have thought so many steps ahead, not when the older man had been so occupied with the village's affairs. And Iruka on his part, had just accepted the rumours that he had heard the night before, for what it was – a bunch of untruths.

Kakashi watched his stunned lover warily. He didn't know if Iruka's silence was because he couldn't wrap his head around the idea, or he was thinking that this was moving forward too fast for his liking, and he was trying to turn down the jounin gently. And to be honest, it hurts, even though Kakashi knew he had prepared himself for the possible rejection.

As the silence stretched, Kakashi decided that he didn't want to push Iruka to give him any answers if he wasn't comfortable. He gave the tanned hands another squeeze, before retracting his own hands. The resignation in his voice, as he spoke, was clear even to his own ears. "It's all right, Iruka. If you think you are not ready –"

The jounin was cut off by a pair of warm lips against his masked ones. Then a pair of arms wrapped around his neck and Iruka buried his face in the broad shoulders.

"I can't believe this." Iruka whispered hoarsely, his voice still holding a tinge of disbelief at what had transpired. He laughed shakily. "You always surprise me with the most unexpected things. But are you sure?"

Kakashi was momentarily stunned by the kiss. Then, the question sank in and a small smile formed, as he held the chunin tightly in his embrace. He trembled slightly in trepidation. "I've never been so sure in my life. I've been thinking about this for the longest time, but I just didn't know how to bring it up to you." Drawing back slowly, he watched the brown eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "So Iruka, are you saying –"

Another kiss again cut off what he wanted to say. Iruka's smile was brilliant as he drew back and eyed his older lover.

"So, since we are going to live together, I would want to see the apartment too before we move in. When can I see it?"

It took a moment for the words to sink into the jounin's mind. And when it did, Kakashi felt the tension and apprehensions finally deserting him, replaced by a sense of immense relief. He chuckled when the consent from the younger man finally hit him and he returned his lover's smile with one of his own, his eye arching up happily.

"I will arrange for it when you are feeling better."

* * *

"This place certainly looks great." Iruka peered out of the living room window to admire the greeneries across from it. Separating the building and the cluster of trees was a clear, sparkling lake. The chunin grinned and turned to his lover when the older man came up beside him.

"It's near to the mission room and academy too." Kakashi tugged at the chunin's hand, leading him to the other side of the living room and stepping out into a small balcony. He pointed to a street down their right and smiled. "Just down that way."

Iruka leaned against the older man in bliss. "You found a really good place."

Kakashi steered his lover around and led him down the hallway. "Kitchen's big enough for you to whip up a feast if you want to." He grinned. "And there are two bedrooms. We can just convert one of the rooms into a study room for the both of us. Though I think, you will probably be the frequent user of it."

The brunette stepped into the master bedroom and admired the vast space in the room, his eyes scanning the place until it stopped at the adjoining bathroom. He turned to Kakashi and gave him a smile. "Thank you for going to such lengths to find this place."

"As long as you like it." Kakashi wrapped his arms around the lean waist. "With the invasion and destruction that Konoha went through, there are hardly any good grounds left to build homes. I can't say this is the best place, but it's cosy enough for the two of us."

"It's excellent." Iruka leaned into the embrace. "I love it." Glancing up at the masked face, Iruka grinned. "So, what did you do to Hokage-sama to make her agree to give you this place?"

Kakashi arched an eyebrow in amusement. "I didn't do anything."

"Really? No threats, nothing? I can't believe she would give her approval so easily when you requested for this corner unit apartment. Aren't homes like these usually given to those with small families?"

"No, I didn't threaten her. Tsunade-sama isn't one to give in to threats anyway. She will probably just make my life more difficult if I did that." Kakashi chuckled. "And yes, it's usually given to small families. In fact, I heard Kurenai might be moving in to this building too with her child after she gives birth. Tsunade-sama gave me this apartment, because I told her of my plans to move in with you. So that does make us a small family too, doesn't it?"

The adorable pink shade that coloured the chunin's cheeks made Kakashi's grin spread wide enough that it could be seen, even behind the mask. Iruka swatted at his lover's head affectionately.

"And I supposed that's when Naruto and Sakura found out about us too?" He enquired, remembering that Sakura had told him how she and Naruto had learnt about his relationship with their team leader.

"I guess." Kakashi rubbed the nape of his neck in slight embarrassment. "I think they were in the room when I told Tsunade-sama."

"I'm surprised they took it so well." Iruka reached up and pulled his lover down for a kiss.

"I'm surprised Naruto didn't try to kill me when he found out." Kakashi teased, as they broke apart from the brief moment of intimacy.

"Of course he won't." Iruka smiled fondly. "He respects you too much to do that."

"I guess that remains to be seen. He's protective of you too." The jounin winked. He laced his fingers with the younger man and turned towards the bedroom door. "Well, since we are both satisfied, we had better let the administration office know that we will be settling for this unit, so they can get us off their books and deal with the accommodation arrangements for the other shinobi and civilians."

Iruka nodded and stepped out of the room with his lover, just as a woman entered the apartment from the front door.

"Good afternoon, Hatake-san and Umino-san." The lady bowed politely to the two shinobi. "Have you reached a decision?"

"Yes." Kakashi nodded and turned towards the younger man. "I need to attend a meeting with Tsunade-sama now. Can you handle the paperwork?"

Iruka smiled and pushed the jounin towards the door. "Go ahead. I will deal with it."

Kakashi bent down and planted a kiss on his lover's lips, drawing another blush from the younger man. He grinned. "I will see you later." With that, he turned and headed out of the apartment.

When the copy nin had left, Iruka turned to the administration office worker and smiled politely. "We will settle for this unit."

"Excellent. If you have some time now, please come with me to the administration office and we will have this unit registered under both your names." Turning on her heels, the lady walked out of the apartment, with the chunin following closely behind her.

* * *

"So, how do you think they are holding up?" Kotetsu muttered as he took a sip out of his cup.

"Well, when we visited Iruka two days ago, he said they had things sorted out between them. And yesterday when we saw them again, it certainly looked like they are fine. So I guess they are really all right now." Izumo sighed.

Iwashi took a bite out of the dango and eyed his two friends. "What about the rumour?"

"If they are not letting it affect them, I guess as their friends, we shouldn't too." Izumo stretched himself.

"Hmm… But…" Iwashi frowned. Then his eyes widened in shock, as he pointed past Izumo's shoulder. "Wait… What is that?"

Izumo turned and Kotetsu craned his neck to see what had caught Iwashi off guard. When they saw what the other chunin was pointing at, both of their eyes widened in surprise.

"Tha… That's the woman I saw with Kakashi-san previously." Iwashi mumbled, still in a state of shock. "What is Iruka doing with her now?"

Kotetsu and Izumo turned and studied Iwashi silently, a number of thoughts running through their heads. Then, without saying a word, Izumo stood from his seat and turned to walk out of the shop to go after his friend who had just walked past. Kotetsu pushed back his seat and hurried after his the long-haired chunin.

* * *

"Iruka! Hey, Iruka!"

The brunette stopped in his tracks when he heard his name being called. Turning around, he saw his two friends navigating through the crowd and heading towards him. The spiky-haired chunin was waving wildly, trying to catch his attention.

"Kotetsu, Izumo, good afternoon." Iruka smiled.

Izumo nodded, a smile plastered to his face. "How are you feeling today?"

"Much better." Iruka grinned, his cheeriness a welcoming change for his two friends, as compared to the depressed side of him, just a couple of days back. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Having lunch." Kotetsu waved in the general direction of the shop which they had just emerged from. Then, catching sight of the lady waiting patiently at the side for the academy teacher, he arched an eyebrow. "And… Who is this?"

Iruka turned towards the area where Kotetsu's gaze was casted upon. Izumo followed their line of sight and then turned to look at Iruka questioningly. "Yeah. You two looked like you were going somewhere in a hurry."

Iruka scratched his scar across his nose in embarrassment. He hadn't plan to tell anyone yet about the proposal from Kakashi to live together, until he had mentally prepared himself for the possible interrogations from his concerned friends. Clearing his throat, he gestured vaguely at the lady beside him, preparing to tell them just the generics and hoping they will not probe into the details.

"This is Yurika-san from the administration office. She is part of the team set up by Hokage-sama to handle the assignment of the new apartment units to the shinobi faction in the village. You will probably be hearing from her too when your units are ready to be assigned to you." Iruka averted his gaze from his two friends, who had their eyes widened in surprise at the brief introduction.

"So Iruka, where are you two going now?" Kotetsu asked uncertainly, after he had recovered from his surprise.

"Um… To the administration office." The tanned chunin fidgeted uneasily.

Izumo tapped a finger against his chin contemplatively. "And the purpose for that is?"

"Paperwork…" Iruka cheeks turned red and he turned on his heels, to avoid further questions from the other two. "Let's talk later, Izumo, Kotetsu. I need to get things settled first."

Izumo nodded in understanding and Kotetsu waved his friend goodbye, as Iruka continued down his way with the administration office worker. The spiky-haired chunin rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger, trying to figure out his friend's secretive behaviour.

"Suspicious. He's hiding something."

Izumo nodded, similarly contemplating about the tanned chunin's weird antics. He was about to say something when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, startling him. Kotetsu's head was turned to look over his shoulder and he was scowling at the person behind them.

"So, where's Iruka? Did you find out who that lady was? Is Iruka going to confront her about her relationship with Kakashi-san?" Iwashi craned his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the two people he had spotted earlier. "Were they fighting? Do we need to go back Iruka up?"

"You gossip-monger." Izumo growled and whacked him upside the head. "That was the worker from the administration office! Trust you to go around and feed us with nonsense, making us worry out minds out for Iruka and Kakashi-san!"

"Yeah." Kotetsu snorted. "From here on out, she will probably be seen with almost every shinobi in the village. Why don't you keep a record book of the time and place she's seen with different shinobi?"

"What?" Iwashi winced and rubbed the sore spot on his head, not understanding his friends' anger. But Izumo and Kotetsu were already looking down the street where Iruka and the lady had walked down just minutes ago.

"Administration office worker, apartment unit and paperwork…" Izumo mused. And then his lips widened into a grin. "I think Iruka has got some answering to do tonight."


	6. Chapter 6: When Word & Action Complement

**A/N: And here's the final chapter (or I think it is, unless I can think of something better in the months ahead). Sorry for the wait. I struggled with the ending quite a bit, and I finally decided to settle for something a little more cheery than the previous chapters, considering there had been so much angst.**

**To Sara and Jj: Thank you for the reviews, as always.**

**To all the guests' reviews, thank you too!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Chapter 6: When Words and Actions Complement

Kakashi slipped the scroll into his vest pocket as he stepped out from the Hokage's makeshift office. Turning on his heels, he headed out of the small building and onto the streets, coloured orange by the sunset. He was mildly surprised when he saw Genma leaning against one of the trees by the roadside, grinning at him.

"You do look like you have a lot of time on hand." Kakashi commented idly, as he continued down the streets. Genma chuckled and fell in step beside him.

"Well I do, now that the reparation works are well underway. So, do you think you have some time on hand?" The honey-haired man rolled his senbon between his lips and glanced at the copy nin.

"What's up?"

"Ever since we faced the attack from Pain, we had all been busy with the restoration works in the village." Genma shoved his hands into his pockets. "It's been a long while since we last visited Asuma."

Kakashi stopped in his tracks, a soft look of regret in his eye. Then, turning in the other direction, he started walking again. Genma smiled and followed, as they headed in silence towards the cemetery.

"I wonder how Kurenai is holding up." Kakashi muttered quietly. "Asuma's death… Has it been so many months already?"

"Yeah." Genma stared blankly ahead. "It still kind of feels like we were just having a drinking session yesterday."

The pair continued walking in silence after that. The street leading up to the cemetery was quiet, other than the occasional civilian who greeted the two shinobi politely. Kakashi returned the greeting with a brief nod, while Genma raised his hand in a half wave. And this continued until the sculpture in the cemetery gradually came into sight.

Genma sighed softly. "Kurenai seemed fine when I saw her this afternoon with Shikamaru. Her stomach is getting bigger. Looks like she's due soon." He smiled wryly. "And Shikamaru that kid, he's so invested in taking care of her and the baby."

The two stopped before the burial stone, as their eyes traced the name they knew so well.

"He did promise Asuma that he would take care of them both and be a mentor to the child." Kakashi stared at the engraved name as he closed his eyes in a silent prayer.

"He would make a good one." Genma crouched before the stone and reached into his vest, pulling out a bottle of sake. Popping it open, he raised it in a gesture of a toast to his late friend. "Hey Asuma, been a long while since we last drank together. Sorry we haven't been visiting much. You know how much troubles the village had faced in recent months."

Pouring some of the alcohol on the ground before the tombstone, Genma then took a quick swipe of the alcohol before handing it to Kakashi.

"War is looming upon us." Genma sighed. "Attaining peace seemed like such a faraway dream."

"Or not." Kakashi gulped down a mouthful of sake and crouched down beside his friend, handing the bottle back. "When we fight out there and we bring the war away from the village, we are keeping the peace for the remaining people here."

"Warped logic, though I can't say I don't agree with you." Genma chuckled. "Oh right, there's something I have not told you, Asuma. This idiot here, he had finally made peace with Iruka. And they are now an officially known couple in the village."

Kakashi scowled. Genma laughed. "And the reason I dragged him all the way out here today, is because I wanted you to bear witness to something I'm gonna ask him. I wanted to clarify a new rumour that I heard today."

"Rumour? Haven't you got enough of them?" The silver-haired jounin frowned.

"Oh no. I will ignore any rumour that is against you and Iruka. But this one is interesting. And I heard it from Izumo and Kotetsu." Genma grinned deviously.

Kakashi stared at him blandly. Genma's grin widened. "I heard that you and Iruka are going to move in together."

The silver-haired jounin was silent for a while, his single grey eye scanning his friend thoughtfully. Then he nodded.

"Really? Trust you to not tell me about it!" Genma punched his friend on the shoulder lightly. "And to think I was so worried about you two."

"Iruka wanted to keep it under wraps for the time being. And I thought it would be good to keep silent about it until we've moved in." Kakashi turned to glance at his friend. "Whoever knew the gossip mill would be so efficient?"

Genma chuckled. "Izumo and Kotetsu saw Iruka this afternoon. He was on his way to the administration office with one of the worker to complete some paperwork. And from what I heard, this worker was the one handling the new accommodation arrangements for the shinobi. They put two and two together and came to me, seeking verification."

"I hope you didn't give them any weird ideas that would give rise to new rumours." The silver-haired jounin snorted.

"Give me some credit, would you?" Genma scowled and turned towards the tombstone. "So yeah, Asuma, this emotionally-stunted fool is now in safe hands, so I guess you can stop worrying about him. Iruka makes a fine partner for him and certainly knows how to put him in his place. And oh yes, I'm sure you already know this. But Kurenai is due to give birth soon. Shikamaru is taking really good care of her and the baby for you. Ino and Choji seemed to be contributing a lot to her welfare too. And you know Raidou…"

Kakashi listened with a smile as Genma continued droning on to their late friend about all the latest happenings and giving him updates about all their friends. He knew that somewhere, Asuma was listening on with interest and probably laughing along with them on all the jokes made. He traced his fingers along the engraved name, knowing that despite it all, all of them, whether dead or alive, had and always will remain as close as they had always been. And while the dead ones watched over them from wherever they are, the remaining living ones will continue to watch each other's back.

He casted a glance at his friend, who returned it with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes. Though he would never say it outright, but Kakashi was thankful for his friends – Asuma and Genma, in particular. Without them, he probably would never have gotten the courage to go after Iruka and get him back. And he certainly had to give credits to them both for how far he had gotten with Iruka today.

He allowed the honey-haired jounin to ramble on a while more before he placed a hand on Genma's shoulder and pointed upwards to the darkening sky.

"We should get going. It's getting dark."

Genma chuckled and straightened himself, giving a two-finger salute towards Asuma's grave. "Well, looks like we have to go now. Kakashi is eager to get back to Iruka." He laughed at the scowl the silver-haired man gave him, before he gave a slight bow to the stone. "We will come by again, when things have more or less settled down."

Kakashi nodded. "See you soon, Asuma. And don't worry. We will check on Kurenai as and when we can."

Genma grinned and slung an arm over the copy nin's shoulder, pulling him away from the cemetery grounds, much to Kakashi's chagrin. Finally exiting the gates that led to the cemetery, Genma dropped his arm and shoved both his hands into his pocket, gazing up into the sky as he fell in step with his friend.

"When are you moving?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Iruka did the paperwork this afternoon. So I guess it will take about a week for the processing to be completed." He eyed the man walking next to him. "What about you? Got your allocation?"

"Yeah." Genma rolled his senbon between his lips. "Tsunade-sama spoke to me and Raidou this afternoon. We've got our allocated units. Come over for a visit when you are free!" Then he leaned over and whispered grinningly. "I will be a good friend and keep my couch free for you if you ever make Iruka angry and got kicked out by him."

Kakashi scowled and swatted at the honey-haired man. "I won't ever give you the satisfaction in seeing that happen. You can keep the couch free for someone else."

Genma laughed. Then that laughter gave way to a more solemn look. He patted Kakashi on the back encouragingly, a small smile on his face. "In all honesty, I don't fancy seeing you and Iruka going through again what you two had gone through before. He's a good man, Kakashi. Cherish him and give in to him whenever possible."

"I know." The silver-haired jounin turned to his friend, a genuine smile on his face. "Thank you for standing by us, Genma."

"What are friends for? Especially now that Asuma is gone, I've got to work doubly hard to cover his share too." The specialist smirked. "So rest your mind. If I ever hear anyone spreading vicious rumours about you two again, I will pin down their tongues with my senbon."

Kakashi arched an eyebrow in amusement. "Should I thank you or should I begin to worry that you are going to murder fellow comrades in Iruka's and my names?"

"I won't murder. I will just maim them enough to make it look like an accident." Genma let out a devious smile.

Kakashi shook his head in mild amusement and laughed. He hadn't felt this relaxed in a long while and he knew he certainly had his friend to thank for his good mood that evening. That, and the fact that Iruka had agreed to living together. He knew he had everything he ever wanted and he wouldn't ask for more.

"So you are gonna move out way before we do, huh?" Genma's voice broke into his musings.

"Guess so."

"Need help moving?" The tokujo raised an eyebrow.

Kakashi's eye arched up in a smile. "Sure. We could do with the extra help."

* * *

Kakashi stepped into the jounins' quarters to find his lover leaning against the wall and reading a book. He walked over quietly and smiled when Iruka's head tilted up to regard him.

"Welcome back." The smile on Iruka's face made Kakashi felt like his day had just gotten better.

"I'm back." The jounin shrugged off his vest and slipped into a seat beside his lover. "Long day?"

"Not really." Iruka closed the book and set it down beside him. He gazed at the older man with a soft smile. "You are late today. Did the meeting not go well with Hokage-sama?"

"No, it went well." The silver-haired jounin rubbed the back of his nape ruefully. "I met Genma on my way back and we decided to pay Asuma a visit. So it took a while."

Iruka sighed wistfully and placed a hand over the jounin's one in a comforting gesture. "I saw Kurenai-sensei on my way back earlier and we stopped to have a cup of tea together. She seemed to be getting over things slowly. She's really strong."

"She needs to be for her's and Asuma's child." Kakashi said quietly.

"Yeah." Iruka sighed and rested his head on the jounin's shoulder. He closed his eyes, feeling the familiar arm slipping around his waist and pulling him close.

They sat in comfortable silence, listening to the distant laughter and voices from the streets below. It was a momentary peace that both of them treasured. Iruka vaguely wondered when would be the next time that he got to hear these wonderful sounds again.

"Iruka." Kakashi's voice broke the serenity of the moment.

"Hm?" Iruka's eyes remained closed, as he relaxed to the feel of the warm body against his.

"It's about time."

The chunin slowly opened his eyes and glanced at Kakashi curiously. The jounin's face broke into a grin that was visible even through the mask.

"What time?" Iruka frowned, befuddled.

Kakashi's grin widened. He leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially. "Well, we are going to live together soon. So it's about time for the son-in-law to meet the parents-in-law."

It only took Iruka a split second to know what his lover was talking about. He turned a bright shade of red and rubbed his scar awkwardly, his eyes looking everywhere, but his lover.

"Well, what do you say?" Kakashi eyed him, a cheerful twinkle in his grey eye.

"I guess." Iruka casted his gaze down and tried to will the blush away. Lifting his head a little, he met the smiling eye of the jounin and he returned it with a soft smile of his own. "We can visit my parents at the same time too."

Kakashi chuckled. "So I get to meet the parents too."

"Of course." Iruka reached forward and pinched his lover's nose playfully. "It's only fair."

Kakashi grabbed the tanned hand and pressed a kiss on the knuckles. "Let's do it tomorrow." Then he leaned forward and kiss the chunin on the lips, before he drew back and whispered. "So, are you going to wear the wedding dress to meet them?"

Kakashi dodged and slipped away from his lover's side, just as Iruka's raised hand swatted at him. Then he stayed in the spot he had dodged to and allowed the younger man to tackle him down onto the futon.

The soft laughter filled the corner of the room and Genma stood watching by the doorway, with his arms folded and an amused look on his face. Turning to face Raidou, who looked equally tickled, he gestured for the man to leave.

"Well, now that they have each other, I don't think they need dinner anymore. So, let's just go on without them."

* * *

Kakashi stood beside his lover and watched as Iruka rubbed the nape of his neck awkwardly.

"So yeah, dad and mum, this is Kakashi." The chunin took in a deep breath and Kakashi watched in amusement as a blush spread across the cheeks. "He's… um… My lover."

The jounin reached for the younger man's hand and stepped forward, his eye arched into a smile. "Pleased to meet you." Then the smile faded and he casted a solemn look at Iruka, who returned the gaze.

"Please rest assured that I will take care of him. As long as I'm here, I will make him happy." The affectionate grey eye never left him and Iruka smiled. He could almost hear his parent's approval of his man before him.

Turning back to the stone, Kakashi bowed politely. "I give you my promise in this."

Iruka traced his fingers along the engraved names wistfully, silent for a moment. Kakashi never said a word, leaving him to his own musings. Then finally, he lifted his hand and turned to the older man with a smile.

"Come on, let's go visit your parents."

Kakashi nodded and led the way. Down several rows and further up, somewhere near the cemetery monument, the jounin came to a stop in front of a tombstone with two names engraved on it. The stone looked much older than some of the stones Iruka was used to visiting – a telling sign of how long it had been around.

Iruka stepped forward and placed the flowers in his hands on the marble. Straightening himself, he casted a glance to his lover who gave him a soft smile.

"So dad, as you had asked, I brought him. And mum, you probably had already heard about it from dad." Kakashi reached for Iruka's hand and laced their fingers together. "This is Iruka, my lover. We are going to live together soon."

Iruka scratched his head in nervousness and awkwardness. It felt weird to be introduced in such a way to a slab of stone. But who was he to judge? After all, he had just been to his parent's tombstone and spoke to it, introducing Kakashi in the same way too.

Taking a step forward, Iruka gave a polite bow and closed his eyes in a silent prayer. Then, he opened his eyes and visually traced the two engraved names. Reaching forward, he placed his hand beside one of the names, silently giving his respects to the man behind the name.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, after hearing from Kakashi, all the honourable things that you had done, Sakumo-sama." Iruka spoke softly as he casted a glance at his lover, a loving smile on his face. "Please do not worry. I will take care of Kakashi."

The jounin grinned and stepped up beside the younger man. He solemnly eyed the familiar name on the stone, knowing that his father was watching wherever he is now and giving his blessings to the both of them.

"Wherever you are with mum, I hope you are happy, dad. Whatever the circumstances may be, I was really glad we got to talk after so many years. It really does help me to move on." Kakashi closed his eye, almost feeling his father agreeing to the same thing. "And you know, I'm still proud to be your son and having the honour to carry on your legacy."

Iruka wrapped a hand around the jounin's arm, leaning close to him and offering the silent comfort. Kakashi opened his eye and smiled at him.

"Well, it's getting late. We have to go now. We will come visit again, dad."

Both lovers gave a polite bow before the tombstone, then turned and walked away, their hands entwined like their lives would be from now on.

* * *

The small apartment was bustling with activity. Genma and Raidou were shifting things around the living room, while Naruto, Sakura and Sai helped out in the kitchen.

Izumo and Kotetsu stepped through the doorway and eased a bookshelf into the apartment, heading for the study room.

"Be careful, the two of you." Iruka called out from the dining area and his two friends gave him a smirk and a sign that they were fine, as they disappeared into the study room.

Kakashi stepped out of the bedroom and stretched himself as he headed for the front door. Reaching it, he leaned lazily on the wall next to the entrance.

"Waiting for something, Kakashi?" Genma grinned, as he plopped down onto the newly-arranged couch and stretched out his legs.

"Yeah. The coffee table." The silver-haired jounin grinned as he glanced at the clock. "About time too."

And just as he finished speaking, a loud barrelling sound was heard, startling everyone in the room. Moments later, a spandex-clad figure appeared at the doorway.

"And here I am, my Eternal Rival! To come to your aid in this Springtime of Youth that we all revel in! I have my honourable challenge with my honourable teammates! And we have decided…"

"Gai..." Kakashi spoke blandly, obviously not in the mood for any talks about _'springtime'_ or _'youth'_ when they were all frantically busy with the apartment.

"… That if we do not complete our challenge of being the fastest…"

"Gai." The copy nin's voice went a notch higher.

"… To accomplish the task of moving the coffee table to my esteemed Eternal Rival's house…"

"Gai!" The silver-haired jounin resisted the urge to pummel his friend. He didn't really want to have to clean up blood from his doorsteps on the first day of moving in.

"Yes, my Eternal Rival?" The bowl-cut hair jounin finally gave his attention to his silver-haired friend, accompanied with his trademark grin and a thumbs-up.

"Just place the coffee table over there." Kakashi waved in the general direction where Genma was seated.

"Leave it to me!" The ever exuberant jounin strode forward to where Kakashi had indicated for the piece of furniture to be placed. He shot a glance at Genma who merely gave him a shrug and wave his hands around, indicating to Gai that he could place the coffee table anywhere suitable.

Gai nodded and stepped forward to begin animatedly measuring the space to decide on the best position to place the coffee table, all the while murmuring things to himself.

The silver-haired jounin shook his head and walked away, leaving his friend to deal with it. There were still plenty of other things to be done.

* * *

Genma, Raidou, Izumo and Kotetsu were the only ones left in the apartment after the rest who had come by to help in the moving left a while ago. Gulping down the last of his beer, Izumo stretched and stood up.

"I've got an early morning duty at the mission room tomorrow. So I guess I had better get going."

"Me too." Kotetsu yawned.

"We should leave too." Genma smiled and stood from the couch with Raidou. "Thanks for dinner, Iruka."

"I should be the one thanking you guys for the help in setting up this place." Iruka smiled gratefully. "Kakashi and I wouldn't have been able to get much done if it was just the two of us."

"Well, we didn't help much. Just shifting things here and there." Genma scratched his head sheepishly.

"I would thank you for giving us that comfortable couch." Kakashi grinned. "Though, that would be kept for you if you get kicked out of your apartment by any future lovers."

Genma smirked at the silver-haired nin. "Someone's getting cocky." He gave a friendly punch to Kakashi's shoulder. "We shall see who gets to sleep on the couch first."

Iruka shot a confused look between his lover and the special jounin. Raidou laughed and patted him on the back.

"Don't even try to wrack your brains to understand them. It would just be a waste of time." Stepping back, he glanced at the clock on the wall. "All right, we really should get going and leave you and Kakashi to get some rest."

Izumo nodded, as he made to move to the front door. Then as an afterthought, he stepped towards Iruka instead and pulled him aside.

The tanned chunin eyed his friend curiously, but Izumo merely smiled. "I'm happy for you Iruka. What you have today didn't come by easy. Remember to hold on tight and treasure it."

"I know." Iruka returned the smile. "Thank you for everything, Izumo."

The long-haired chunin nodded and the two walked back to the waiting group.

"All right, we will see you two tomorrow." Genma winked cheekily. "Enjoy your first night in the comfort of your bed!"

Iruka blushed and Kakashi scowled. Laughing, Genma headed towards the door with the other three following. Then he turned his head before he opened the door and let himself out.

"Let us know if you guys need any more help with the place." And with a final wave, he stepped out of the apartment with Raidou, Kotetsu and Izumo.

When the door clicked shut, Kakashi turned to look at his lover. Tugging down his mask, he pressed a kiss on the soft lips in front of him.

"What was that for?" Iruka whispered affectionately against the lips hovering over his.

"Just wanted to." Kakashi smiled. Then he nudged his lover. "Go take a shower. I will clean up the living room."

Iruka grinned mischievously and stepped forward to place a kiss on the jounin's lips, before he turned and walked towards the bedroom, with a single grey eye staring at him amusedly.

* * *

Kakashi stepped out of the shower to find the bedroom empty. Stepping out onto the hallway, he spied the lean figure of his lover by the balcony.

He found Iruka sitting on the lounge bed – courtesy of Raidou – and staring up into the night sky. The long, brown hair that cascaded over the chunin's shoulder and the peaceful look on that tanned face with closed eyes and a genuine smile, reminded Kakashi of a beautiful picture.

He walked over and sat down, sliding his arms around his lover's waist. Iruka habitually leaned into the embrace and sighed contentedly.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Thinking." Iruka murmured. He could picture his lover's curious eye on him and the way the older man was holding back the urge to ask further. He almost burst out laughing. Glancing up at the pale face, he reached out a hand to trace the unmasked jaw.

"I'm thinking how amazing it is that we have come this far."

Kakashi sighed. "You mean it's amazing that we had to go through so much, just to get here? I would rather not have put you through all those pain before."

Iruka smiled and tugged his lover down for a kiss. "It was worth it." He whispered against the lips and leaned back into the jounin's embrace, a look of contentment and bliss on his face. "At least, we learnt more about each other. And hopefully, that will give us enough experience to not repeat the same mistakes again."

Kakashi nodded silently, his eye gazing at the man before him in reverence. The two sat in comfortable silence, gazing into the distance.

"War is coming, isn't it?" Iruka asked quietly, one of his hands reaching over to grasp the jounin's one tightly. Kakashi eyed his lover in surprise at the sudden solemn topic. Then he looked away, understanding coming to him. It was inevitable. They were both shinobi and they knew when things weren't right. Iruka wasn't oblivious about such things. Being a teacher had sharpened his instincts to be more aware about the happenings that affected the village on a large scale. And he had also probably been told about his role in the upcoming war.

Kakashi gave the hand in his a comforting squeeze. "Yes. And it can't be helped."

"They are coming for Naruto again, aren't they?"

The jounin nodded. "They want the nine-tailed beast. But we will not let them have their way. We will protect him."

"I'm worried." Iruka closed his eyes and shifted his position to wrap his arms around the older man.

"For Naruto?" Kakashi chuckled, trying to ease the worry in his lover's mind. "I wouldn't worry about him. He will have you there to guard him."

"I'm worried for you too." The voice that came out was barely above a whisper. "You will be out there fighting again and I won't be there to watch your back."

Kakashi tightened his hold on the younger man when he felt the body tensing in fear. It seemed that the memory from the last time when he brushed past death on such a close proximity, was still clearly imprinted in Iruka's mind.

"I will be all right." Kakashi whispered reassuringly. "And besides, it's not only us fighting. We have the allied shinobi forces, formed from the five great shinobi countries. We have quite the credible fighting force this time."

Iruka glanced up at the smiling face of his lover and he couldn't help returning it, even if it was strained. He leaned his forehead against the broad chest and one of his hands reached up to curl around the jounin's neck.

"Not that I doubt your capabilities, but you have the tendency to place everyone's safety before your own in the face of danger." Iruka glanced up at his lover. "I can't and won't change that trait of yours. But promise me that you will do your best to keep yourself safe too."

Kakashi nodded, his thumb caressing a tanned cheek. Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the chunin's forehead. "I promise."

And as Iruka snuggled back against his chest, he was resolved to keep that promise right till the very end. He would be damned if he broke his promise to his lover again.

* * *

As they lay in bed that night, Kakashi couldn't help feeling how familiar yet unfamiliar this scene was. They had slept in the same bed many times before in the past, yet this time, it felt more intimate than any of the others.

He smiled when Iruka stirred slightly and drowsy brown eyes opened to gaze at him.

"Why aren't you asleep?" Iruka asked sleepily.

The jounin smiled apologetically. "Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"No." The younger man snuggled into the arms around him. "I just woke on instincts, I guess."

"Go to sleep. You still have a long day tomorrow." Kakashi whispered, one of his hands reaching up to run his fingers through the long brown hair gently.

Iruka relaxed into the gesture, but he kept his gaze fixed on the jounin, as a contented smile graced his lips. "So do you."

"Yeah." Kakashi grinned sheepishly. "I will sleep in a while. Go to sleep."

"What got you thinking so hard that you can't sleep?" The chunin's eyes fluttered close and he ran his fingers along his lover's back absently.

"Just thinking." Kakashi let out an inaudible sigh. "How nice it is to have you here sleeping next to me."

Iruka laughed softly. "I slept next to you every day when we were staying in the jounins' quarters."

"You know that's different." Kakashi pulled his lover closer and nipped at his ear gently, in an almost playful manner. He laughed when Iruka jumped, totally not expecting the jounin to do that.

"Now I'm wide awake." Iruka mocked frowned at the copy nin, though the corners of his lips tugging up gave him away.

"I know of a way to put you back to sleep." Kakashi leered.

"Don't even think about it. I need to deal with thirty pre-genin tomorrow. They are going to start learning how to throw the shuriken." Iruka grinned.

The jounin chuckled softly, and kissed the soft lips before him, unable to resist the temptation. When he pulled back, he regarded his lover with a solemn look.

"I want to see you waking up tomorrow. I want to be here when you wake up tomorrow."

Iruka's smile faltered for a minute, when he understood the meaning behind the older man's words. Kakashi was still guilty about what he had done months ago, when he had put Iruka through the pain of a secret relationship and never staying around with the chunin till the morning.

He tightened his arms around the older man's waist, trying to reassure Kakashi.

"So does that mean I have to wake up real early tomorrow?" Iruka spoke in a light tone, hoping to chase away the demons in Kakashi's mind. "Since you have an early morning meeting with Hokage-sama."

The soft rumbles that vibrated off the jounin's chest as he chuckled made Iruka smile. Gazing up, he lifted a finger and traced his lover's face affectionately, his eyes staring intently into the single grey one, trying to convey all his feelings.

"Don't look back anymore, love. We have a lot more things to look forward to." Iruka whispered. "I'm trying my best too, and I need you to move with me, so that I can keep going forward."

The copy nin leaned into the caress and nodded. "I'm sorry." He said hoarsely.

"Don't be." Iruka let his fingers run higher to run through the silvery strands in a soothing motion, before he dropped his hand back down to wrap around the jounin's waist. He smiled softly "So, now that I've gotten what I think is the load off your mind, do you think you can sleep now?"

Kakashi grinned. "I will do so when you do."

"Then get ready to fall asleep within the next five minutes, because I can barely keep my eyes open now." Iruka smiled sleepily.

Kakashi tucked his lover close to his chest and stroke Iruka's back, coaxing the drowsing younger man into full sleep. Finally, when he heard the even breathing and the warm body relaxing against his, he pulled back and kissed his lover gently on the forehead. Then closing his eyes, he followed Iruka into sleep.

It may have been a long journey, riddled with pain, hurts, doubts and heartaches to get to where they were now. But there was also a great deal of promises, dedication, devotion and love invested to make their love strong and unyielding. Along the way, they had stumbled, made mistakes, and discovered more about themselves and each other, which eventually gave way to the realisation that they could not do without the other in their lives.

The journey to finding their way back to each other had been more difficult than the jounin had thought it to be. But Kakashi was thankful that Iruka never gave up. And it was the silent strength in Iruka that made him held on and pushed him forward too. And while it hadn't been too smooth sailing, but the bitter-sweet experiences had been more than worth it. It had allowed them a deeper understanding of each other, strengthening their bonds in the process.

There had been an equal amount of tears and anger but lesser laughter and joy during the time they had been together, then and now. But Kakashi knew, they will continue to create more happiness in the time they are going to spend in the future, to compensate for what they had not done in the past. And despite the uncertain future ahead, the jounin was certain he wasn't going to let go, no matter what.

Because right now, everything he had ever wanted was right there in his arms. And if Iruka wasn't going to give up on this love, neither was he.


End file.
